Akuma Mercenaries
by moonlit fang
Summary: He fought and believed more than anyone, and in the end he was betrayed by the two people he trusted the most. Naruto's back with some new friends.
1. Chapter 1

**In this all the Jinchuurikis are the same age, and the akatsuki haven't killed more then half of them yet. Naruto's kicked out when he's 17 so the thing with Gaara is going to be something else. It never is really mentioned in here. I hate Sakura and Sasuke so I'm gonna make them look like assholes. Not sure about Kakashi, he still pisses me off on some things. Any japanese in here I've gotten from the internet and other fanfictions, so there's probably a lot of mistakes. I know this story isn't too creative because a lot of other people have done "naruto gets banished then comes back a badass" fic. This is my first so if anyone reads this don't flame me too badly, please!**

**Btw: I don't own Naruto, if I did Sasuke-teme woud be gettin his ass kicked by Naruto in every episode, and Sakura would be treated like she is in Naruto the Abridged Series.**

As night fell upon a nameless forest three shinobi sped through the trees, in hot pursuit for the people running from them. The oldest and leader of the three looked back at his teammates through his one eye, one with light pink hair down to her shoulders and emerald eyes, the other with black spiky in the back hair, and dark black eyes, the leader sighed. They had no choice, after encountering impressive but frustrating traps of call kinds, and not have eaten anything for a while; they were all tired and were slowing down. No matter what they did they would lose the ones they were looking for. Tilting his head back the leader called, "Sakura, Sasuke, we're done, stop and rest."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." The two answered and jumped from the trees to the ground beneath. None noticed the eye floating in midair disappear into sand and drift away.

"They've given up and settled for the night." A man with rust red hair and the kanji for love on his right temple opened his eyes, revealing sea foam green. Turning his head he held up his hand signaling a woman with sandy brown hair in a braid with bangs covering her right eye to stop what she was doing. Six other people sighed in relief.

"Thank Kami! I don't know how much longer I could last without turning around and fighting those guys." Another man spoke up. This one had jet black, bed head, hair, his skin a light bluish color.

"That doesn't mean we can stop moving now. Everyone go with your partners to the assigned place. Katashi and Tsubasa will be going to Iwagakure, Haruka and Tsuki will stay here and head to Konohagakure, Yugito, Hibiki, and Akane will head to Otogakure, and Gaara and I will head to Sunagakure, the area we will all meet. Your missions are all the same; to tell your assigned village our answer to their requests. If they question why come up with your own answer. When you are finished meet us in Suna, understood?" A young man, the leader of the group, with sun kissed blonde, with nine red streaks through it, spiky hair, azure eyes flicked with red and slit pupils, tanned skin, and three whisker marks on each cheek (guess who) asked. Chorus of "hai" greeted him before everyone disappeared excluding the red headed man besides him. Turning to said man the leader smiled, "Shall we?" All he got was a nod before the two also disappeared from the nameless forest.

The three shinobi from before rested comfortably in front of the fire, each thinking of the strange figures they were told to catch. They called themselves the _Akuma Mercenaries_, Akuma Mercs for short. Rumors had gone around that this group had killed off all remaining members Akatsuki, even Uchiha Itachi, enraging a certain other Uchiha to no end. This group was different then other mercenaries; others did _anything _for money, even killing the ones close to them. These guys though, they had their own sense of judgment, refusing requests they didn't like, no matter how much money was offered.

Konoha, the shinobi's home, had recently sent a request and had yet to get an answer. The council had gotten impatient and ordered a team to track them down. Said team had one helluva time finding them, and an even worse one keeping up with them.

Sakura sighed she was about to sail away into sleep when two cloaked figures appeared before her and her team. Both cloaks looked the same, reaching past their feet, all black with short sleeves, though no arms came out of those sleeves, red outlined the end and the rim of the sleeves and silver outlined the ends of the hoods, which covered both figures faces from the top of their head to the top of their mouths, on the backs were kanji, the one on the left had _Akuma no yabun_, the one on the right had _Akuma no shinrin _with a long skinny sword resting on their shoulder.

"We have come to report our groups answer to Konohagakure no Sato to you in hopes that you will pass it to your Hokage." A feminine voice flowed calmly from the Akuma Merc on the left. Sakura smiled, they would be able to go home with good news, "And our answer is no." or not.

"May I ask why not?" Kakashi asked studying the two figures closely, he didn't want to fight them if he could avoid it.

"The Akuma Mercenaries already reside within a different village. There is no reason for us to ally and live in Konoha."

"I see, and what village is this?" Kakashi questioned.

"That is none of your concern." The woman on the left warned.

"I think it is. You have no right to deny Konoha's request. We were told to force you to come, and since I'm an Uchiha the fight will end quickly." Sasuke spoke up now, standing, his sharingon at the ready.

"So, this is the Uchiha Leader-samma told us about." The Akuma Merc on the right with the sword stated, the voice told them this was a female as well, but her voice was more monotone. She shook her head, "Arrogant, stupid, and a kunai up the ass. Leader-samma should have left this job to Katashi and Tsubasa; they'd love messing with his head."

"How dare you talk about Sasuke-kun like that! He isn't someone to mess with, in fact, if it wasn't for him the demon boy would still be alive and in our village!"

The temperature around them immediately dropped a few degrees. The monotone Akuma Merc spoke in a deadly tone, "You mean Uzumaki Naruto?"

The three shinobi stiffened, "That dobe is still _alive_!" Sasuke growled.

"Yes, we see him often, he's been doing well, getting stronger and stronger each day. Didn't you guys know? Naruto helped us take down Akatsuki, he was the one who not only killed the leader, but killed _Uchiha Itachi_ as well. This is no lie, I promise." The girl on the left mocked.

Furious, Sasuke charged at the Akuma Merc, kunai in hand. Before Sasuke reached her the Akuma Merc smirked and completely disappeared, looking like she had been swept away in a nonexistent wind. "I suggest that you do not attack your opponent in a fit of rage without a good game plan, had I not been ordered not to start something, I might have killed you." The girl's voice surrounded them before fading out.

"Tsuki isn't usually like that, only to Konoha and Getsu shinobi." The last Akuma Merc explained.

"Why is she against Konoha?" Kakashi asked.

"We all are." This statement shocked them, "There are only a few people there we are not against, your Hokage being one of them. As for reasons, we are all good friends of Uzumaki Naruto and despise everyone who treated him badly." With that said the cloaked figure jumped into the trees, leaving the three shinobi standing there.

Kakashi sighed, "Naruto is good friends with a powerful society who hate us now. The council is not going to be happy."

"Hahaha! Are you serious!? Man I wished I was there, Naruto why didn't you assign me and Tsubasa that job!?" The blue skinned man, with the kanji _Akuma no kaiyou_ asked while laughing as Tsuki retold her tail. All nine Akuma Mercs were currently in a large living room in a mansion, relaxing and sharing their reports of their missions.

Naruto sighed falling back on the couch he was sitting on, "I didn't want to start anything, and I knew you and Tsubasa would. Tsuki and Haruka were the ones I though would be best since they're so quiet."

"Gomen, Naruto-samma, but they said something bad about you and I just couldn't help but anger the Uchiha "prodigy" after the way you talked about him." Tsuki apologized. Without her hood Tsuki showed to have long purple hair that reached to her thigh, her eyes were a light blue on the edges and as you continued to her pupil the color darkened until it was a shade of purple at the center, making look like a dark tunnel you could easily get lost in.

"Yes, I agree, after hearing what the pink haired one said I couldn't help but fight as well." Haruka spoke quietly. Her hood was down and showed long sandy brown hair tied up in a braid with bangs sticking out , covering her right eye. The eye that was visible was black, like a rodent's.

"I would have loved to be there too. That pink haired fangirl bitch and the damned egotistical bastard piss me off!" A blonde hair girl exclaimed. Her hair was pulled into a skinny ponytail that twisted around her neck and lied on her shoulder. Her eyes were a bright, glowing, leaf green with slit pupils, a small fang hung out of her mouth. On the back of her Akuma Mercenaries cloak was the kanji _Akuma no kumo_.

"Ditto," Another girl with blood red hair that covered her left face smirked, her yellow eye that was visible gleamed mischievously, her kanji was _Akuma no omoi_.

"See Naruto, if you allowed Katashi and me to deliver the message to the Konoha shinobi, we could have returned with results that would satisfy everyone." teased the boy with a foot tall red Mohawk with orange tips, his eyes were a mud brown, his face housed a sarcastic smile, his kanji on the back of his cloak was _Akuma no genkotsu._

"I don't think you guys will have to wait long. On our way back Yugito, Akane, and I over heard that Oto is planning on declaring war with Konoha, and since Konoha is allied with Suna, we will probably end up helping. We can mess with them then." A boy with short, spiky, light purpled hair reported happily. His eyes were light lavender, like a Hyuuga's, but with pupils. A thick sword with lightning bolts on the sheath rested on his side. The kanji for him was _Akuma no katana._

Naruto sighed again, running a hand through his hair, he appreciated the support his teammates showed, but still…Turning to the purple haired boy Naruto decided to change the subject, "Hibiki, how did your, Yugito, and Akane's mission go?"

"Well, it went well, until we told Orochimaru that we refused, he tried to kill us, or force us to work with him, I couldn't really tell the difference. We followed your orders and didn't fight back, we really wanted to. Anyways as we were leaving we overheard, as I said, that Oto is going to war with Konoha, which we've already reported to Temari."

Naruto nodded, "That concludes the meeting I guess, you guys can do what ever the hell you do after meetings, I'm gonna get something to eat." That said, Naruto disappeared in a poof of smoke. The boy with rust red hair and the kanji for love on his right temple, left the wall he had been leaning on,

"I'm going to the Kazekage tower." He mumbled before disappearing in a whirlwind of sand.

Hibiki stood from his position on the floor, "I promised to help out Akiko at the academy next time we were in town."

"Oh please!" Katashi laughed, "You promised my ass, you're going there just to see her!" Hibiki blushed and glared at the blue boy before leaving. Katashi turned to Tsubasa with a toothy smile, "Wanna spy and make fun of them?" Tsubasa nodded and the two of them left as well leaving the four girls alone.

The green eyed girl smiled evilly at Tsuki and Haruka, "So exactly how pissed was the Uchiha?"

Tsuki sighed, "Yugito, I told you already, he was nearly foaming at the mouth."

Yugito laughed, before turning to the blood red haired girl, "What would you do Akane?"

Smirking Akane replied happily, "I wouldn't have cared what Naruto ordered, as soon as those words would have left Pinky's mouth, I would have captured them in an interrogation technique and sealed them into a tree, then burn them to a crisp."

"Yes, but I wonder," Haruka questioned, "we call ourselves the Akuma Mercenaries, isn't that telling people that we are demons?"

Tsuki shook her head, "Were being what people want us to be, but still mocking them. They called us demons, so we started a group that called themselves demons, but we do missions to help other people and destroy the strongest. Were telling our hellholes once called homes that the demons they drove out are now stronger than ever."

Yugito nodded, "It'll be great if Kumo finds out that their weapon is fighting against them."

Twenty-one year old Naruto walked down the road, smiling and waving to people who passed him. Everyone here knew his secret, his organization's secret, and still welcomed them here. After Konoha banished and almost succeeded in killing him four years ago, Gaara came and found him, and brought him here. Who knew that saving a village's Kazekage (twice!) would make him a hero? People knew of him and Gaara's condition and just respected them more. His life had been going good after getting almost killed by Konoha, even it was for the council's selfish reasons. After a year of intense training, Gaara and Naruto had both left Suna to search for the other Jinchuuriki, leaving Temari in charge while they were gone.

And they had found them, in less then a year, Yugito holder of Nibi no Nekomata, Katashi holder of Sanbi no Kame, Tsubasa holder of Yonbi no Ondori, Tsuki holder of Gobi no Ookami, Haruka holder of Rokubi no Itachi, Hibiki holder of Sichibi no Koumori, and Akane, holder of Hachibi no Hebi. Together they named themselves the Akuma Mercenaries. For the last three years the Akuma Mercs had been training mercilessly, killing the organization that threatened them, Akatsuki, and making a name for them selves in the process.

Each member contributed something to help training. Gaara helped them understand politics in more detail, Yugito taught them a seal that would allow the jinchuuriki to connect more to their demon while still staying in complete control, Katashi helped with stealth and tactics, Tsubasa taught speed and how to preserve stamina, so that they didn't have to rely on their demons for energy. Tsuki taught every member a unique Kekkei Genkai for jinchuuriki. Each member could transform their eyes into that of their demons, to any normal bystander it would just look like a freighting eye, but to the eye's target, the image stayed in their minds, eyes opened or closed, it caused the target to suffer intense mental damage. Haruka taught pain immunity, Hibiki showed them how to wield a variety of weapons, Akane put a seal onto the uniforms, making them fire proof, and taught the group basic sealing, like for storage. Lastly Naruto taught every member Kage Bushin and the special training that came with it. With the new knowledge and the quick and effective training thank to kage bushin, the Akuma Mercs could easily stand up to any hunter nin or ANBU, and Naruto, the strongest of them all, was definite Kage and Sannin level.

Naruto was about to walk into a ramen stand when familer voices stopped him in his tracks. Immedently Naruto covered his face with his hood, making sure there was no way for identification. Taking a deep breath Naruto walked calmly through the flaps and sat down on a stool not too far away from three very recanizable people. Ordering a large miso Naruto listened in on his old comrades, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.

"I just don't get it!" Ino cried, she no longer wore purple, but instead wore the slandered joinin outfit along with Shikamaru. Choji wore the same outfit as when he was 15, but instead of red it was black. "Whenever we come here everyone always glares at us. Aren't Konoha and Suna allies?

Shikamaru sighed, "It's probably because of Naruto," the blonde boy, almost choked on the ramen we was stuffing down his throat, _Have I been found out?_ "Gaara and Naruto were good friends and Naruto was well liked here. They hold Konoha responsible for Naruto's death." Naruto instantly relaxed.

"That's not fair!" Ino protested, "Naruto died on a mission, it's a common death. The people here should know that, I mean, I know Naruto was a good guy and all, but wouldn't he want people to be proud that he died honorably on a mission? And another thing, it's been almost four years, shouldn't Suna let go?" _Ah, so that was what the council, Sasuke, and Sakura told everyone, oh well, they should find out the truth soon._ Naruto smirked before leaving some money on the counter and leaving, never looking back at his once called friends.

The Konoha nin watched from the corner of their eyes at the cloaked man that had just walked out. "He seemed familer." Choji mused; he finished another bowl and put in a pile with others.

"You're right, but I don't ever remember seeing him around Suna." Ino looked through the flaps, looking for the man again.

"It's too troublesome to worry about. Let's just go meet with Kazekage-samma, I heard that he returned from wherever today." The other two nodded and walked out after paying."

"Naruto's alive!?" Tsunade couldn't believe it, her little brother was alive! The cursed necklace wasn't ever found because he still had it! This was great! When Naruto had "died" she had drank sake and cried so much you couldn't tell the difference from the tears and the drink.

Kakashi nodded, he was happy that Naruto was doing well, but couldn't bring himself to care anymore then that, he never was really attached to the blonde boy anyway. "It seems that he's friends with the Akuma Mercenaries, who also declined Konoha's request."

Tsunade shrugged, "I knew that asking them something like that wouldn't work. You're dismissed." Kakashi quickly disappeared, orange book in hand.

Three men stood in a darkened tunnel, one with long black hair, pale skin, and yellow eyes. The man next to him with silver hair in a shirt ponytail, and glasses. Before them was a tall man, about 6'6 with white robes and a green hat with the kanji for rock on it. Orochimaru smirked, sticking his hand out for the other, "Do we have an agreement, Tsuchikage?" The man in the white robes smiled wickedly before grabing Orochimaru's hand with his.

"Yes, finally, if I can't kill the Yellow Flash myself, I'll just desroy the village he loves so much."

**Gaara-one tailed racoon-akuma no Suna-demon of the sand**

**Yugito-two tailed cat-akuma no kumo-demon of the cloud**

**Katashi-three tailed turtle (fish w/e)-akuma no kaiyou- demon of the ocean**

**Tsubasa-four tailed chicken-akuma no genkotsu-demon of the fist**

**Tsuki-five tailed wolf-akuma no yabun-demon of the night**

**Haruka-six tailed weasel-akuma no shinrin-demon of the forest**

**Hibiki-seven tailed bat-akuma no katanna-demon of the blade**

**Akane-eight tailed snake (dragon?)-akuma no omoi-demon of the mind**

**Naruto-nine tailed fox-akuma no iyoku no hi-demon of the will of fire**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2. It's short, I'll try to update sooner and make the next one longer.**

**I don't own Naruto, only the things that aren't in the manga/anime.**

"This is gonna be one hell of a stupid meeting." Katashi mumbled, this wasn't fair, he still didn't understand why the hell he had to be stuck with _her_.

**Flash Back**

_The intensity of the room was suffocating. No one dared to talk, Katashi glared at the smirking Akane in front of him, "No. Way. In. Hell."_

_Yugito rolled her eyes, "What's wrong, damn, all you have to do is go to Konoha for a meeting with her, it's not like we're asking you to _date_ her. Besides Gaara and Tsuki will be with you guys, you're not gonna be alone."_

_Katashi, never looked away from the red haired girl, "I don't care if we just have to go to some stupid meeting or if Gaara and Tsuki are there, this girl will suck out my soul, have you seen her when she's angry?"_

_"Then don't make me angry, which means _don't_ do something stupid."_

_"Is that possible?" Hibiki asked._

_Temari sighed, "Katashi, you, Gaara, Tsuki, and Akane are the only ones Suna can allow to go to Konoha with our shinobi. Naruto can't go just yet for obvious reasons, Yugito is too disrespectful," Yugito "tched" at this, "We need Tsubasa to help us in our taijutsu for the upcoming war, Haruka to help rise the defense with her traps, and Hibiki is helping everyone how to fight and defend against certain weapons."_

_"Shouldn't they go to Konoha too then? They're going to want that type of stuff." Katashi pleaded, he remembered the last time he was partnered with Akane, out of all the times he had been attacked, Akane got the very closest to killing him, even with Haruka's pain immunity training!_

_The Akuma Mercs were currently in the Kazekage office. As predicted, Suna informed Konoha of the planned war, said village had taken quick action, strengthening their defenses and putting stronger ninja on border patrol and four instead of two people to help guard gates. At this point now, too many high ranking shinobi were on missions to ease the Hokage's worries, as a result, they sent a message asking for extra help in the form of a handful of Suna's ninja to come over, leading our Akuma Mercs to where they are now._

_"Look," Naruto explained, "Konoha has their own help, the Hoshikage sent over some of his shinobi to do the same thing we are here. We can't hide in Suna anymore, it's only a matter of time before someone finds us here, hell, I'm surprised that Shikamaru didn't realize my uniform when I ran into him! The decision has been made that we go to Konoha as Suna shinobi. Gaara will take care of it if they get upset. Though, it probably isn't a smart idea to let them know that Gaara is an Akuma Merc. Now stop complaining and go, dattebayo!" _(A/N: I know that probably didn't make sense but Naruto's been a little OOC with being all leaderish so I had to add that somewhere).

_Cursing under his breath, Katashi followed Tsuki, Akane, Gaara, and the other Suna shinobi they were supposed to go with, out the door. They were halfway down the stair when Naruto ran up behind them. He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck self consciously, "Can you guys tell Baachan, Iruka sensei, old man Ichiraku, and Ayame oniichan that I'll be back soon?"_

_Tsuki smiled, "Sure Naruto samma."_

**End Flash Back**

Akane rolled her eyes at Katashi's comment, that was his, what, 50th one? The guy really needed to learn to just let something go. Sure she didn't want to be stuck with him either, the last time he was such an idiot she almost killed him. Deciding to ignore the man next to her, Akane looked around her leader's old home. All the buildings around her looked very well kept, bright and inviting. But the people seemed to have a staring problem. They all stopped what they were doing and stared curiously at the odd figures walking with the Kazekage and his people, _If they look at us like that now, how are they gonna look at us when they figure out we're Jinchuuriki?_ Akane frowned. That thought reminded her too much of her old home, with her unnaturally bright red hair she had gotten a lot of curious glances from the people that didn't know about Hachibi. When they did find out though...Akane roughly shoved the train of thought away. It would do no good if she met the Hokage while being pissed off and depressed.

Tsuki was thinking along the same lines as Akane, all the smiles and happy people she saw angered her more and more. _Looks like everything's _so_ much better without the _demon_._ Tsuki scowled, though no one could see it outside her cloak, she felt sick even thinking that. She felt even worse when she just _knew_ that it was really how these people's minds were working. After a while Tsuki had made close bonds with not only Haruka, but Naruto as well, everyone had. Naruto was a good person and a great leader, not only had he saved them from their villages (Gaara did too, but he admitted that Naruto was the one with the idea) but he had saved each one of their lives, weather during training or in a mission, Naruto did anything to help. How most of Konoha's population couldn't see that, she would never know. She often wondered if being hated by her village would hurt even more if she tried like Naruto did. She asked him too, why he tried so hard when he got nothing back. Tsuki would always remember his answer; he had looked happy, yet extremely sad at the same time. _"Because even if I didn't get acknowledgement from everyone, I still got the acceptance from a few people, and even that made me happy because I was finally seen by _someone._ Besides, the feeling I got whenever I finished a mission with success, or I was able to protect my precious people was the greatest thing I have ever felt in my life. Just thinking about that feeling, makes me happy time and time again, whatever the pain that came after it." _Tsuki's scowl slipped into a smile, in her opinion those words had left the mouth of a true hero. She would try too. She had respected people, but never had she felt as if someone was her "precious person", though she was sure that her family in the Akuma Mercenaries were going to become, no, _are_ her first ones.

Lost in their thoughts (self pity for Katashi) the three of them continued to follow Gaara through the slowly thinning streets, to the Hokage building, up the stairs, and into a semi-large office, where the faces of two of the eight people turned into ones of absolute shock, much to the cloaked figure's enjoyment, Tsuki's smile was the widest, which was very rare. She was getting another chance to mess with the Uchiha that tried to kill one of her first precious people.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm not too proud of the ending, it seems really weak to me. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, blah, blah, blah.**

Sasuke couldn't believe his eyes, th-those _bastards_ who had dared to make a fool of him before had the balls to come into _his_ town. Tsunade raised an eyebrow questionably at the Kazekage, "Kazekage-samma, what are you doing with three Akuma Mercenaries?"

With out hesitation Gaara answered, "Have your shinobi told you that the Akuma Mercs resided in another village?" Tsunade nodded, "Suna is that village. More Akuma Mercs will come later; all of them will be here to help you as Suna shinobi."

"And why haven't you felt the need to tell Konoha of this?" Tsunade asked.

"They requested me not to, so I didn't."

Sakura scoffed, "What kind of Kage are you? Allowing missing Nin to just come waltzing in your village and telling you what to do. Sasuke-kun is going to be so much better then an amateur like you."

"Watch it Pinky!" barked one of the three Akuma Mercs, she stepped up to the right of Gaara, a strand of blood red hair fell from the protection of her hood, "You may be Suna's allies, but don't think that I'm going to let you off so easily for insulting someone close to us as Tsuki and Haruka did."

"Don't waste your breath," a second Akuma Merc walked up, they could tell by his voice that he was wearing a sinister smirk, "Shouldn't you know by now? The pink haired one and the Uchiha just talk big, they can't amount up to anything, an insult from them wouldn't even hurt a small child."

"You son of a-" Sasuke was about to attack, but the sound of wood cracking echoing throughout the room, stopped him.

"Enough!" Tsunade roared, "Kazekage-samma, I will not allow for your people to insult my shinobi!" _No matter how much the spoiled, sharingon using, power obsessed bastard and the pink haired, trust betraying, failure of an apprentice fan girl deserve it._ She added, mentally smirking.

Gaara nodded and sent a glance to the two cloaked figures at either side of him. They nodded and stepped back to the side of the third, who had not moved through out the whole scene. When they were back Gaara turned back to Tsunade, "I will respect your wishes while I'm here, but I cannot guarantee that they will be respectful while I am not around. But, with my people not insulting yours, I would like that yours do the same in your presence."

As Gaara was talking Katashi leaned over to Tsuki and whispered, "I thought you wanted to bug the Uchiha more? Why didn't you join me and Akane?"

"I do want to bug Uchiha, but I'll wait for a more _appropriate _time."

Tsunade nodded at Gaara's request, glaring hard at Sasuke and Sakura. Both nodded, but will obvious resentment. Shaking her head a bit, Tsunade continued, "Alright, all the Suna and Konoha shinobi here are going to be on the same teams throughout this war. Best to get to know each other now, Hinata, start."

A woman with long, midnight blue hair with pupil missing lavender eyes, stepped up a bit and bowed respectfully, "I'm Hyuuga Hinata, a medic Nin, pleased to meet you." Tsunade smiled warmly at Hinata, after Naruto's "death" she had taken it the hardest. After almost a month in mourning, Hinata had toughened out, asking to seek guidance from Tsunade, not only had she become an amazing medic (her Byakugan really had helped) but she had fully gotten rid of the stutter she once had, nearly beaten Neji at the gentle fist style, and had brought Naruto's nindo back to life by officially adopting it as her own. But she knew she could never be as enthusiastic about it as Naruto had once been. Hinata wore a long, dark purple kimono type clothing, with thin, long strands of yellow across it. At first glance it looked as though it would be impossible to fight in, but with closer inspection, small stitch marks could be seen in random places, giving the occupant more room to move. On each shoulder was a small golden swirl, and to finish it off her hiate gleaming on her right arm.

Hinata stepped back and the man next to her stepped up, a large white and brown dog, or wolf, next to him. The man wore a black tang top under his joinin vest, from his shoulder to elbow was covered in bandages on his left arm. On his other arm was the same thing, but from his elbow to the edges of his fingers. _What is with shinobi and doing opposite things on their arms and legs?_ Katashi wondered. The Konoha Nin before them had the usual joinin pants and sandals. His hiate tied around his neck like a collar. His mud brown hair was messy like Katashi's; the red markings on his cheeks instantly told the Akuma Mercs he was an Inuzuka, if the dog hadn't already told them that. "Inuzuka Kiba."

Next was Sasuke, there really was no need for him introduce himself, but he probably liked the sound of his own voice, he wore a regular ANBU uniform with a raven mask on his shoulder, "Uchiha Sasuke, don't get in my way." _Uchiha Sasuke, don't get in my way. _Akane mimicked, _Dammit, Hachibi is going nuts, did he _have_ to be a _snake_ type shinobi?_

Of course the next up was Sakura. Katashi, Tsuki, and Akane were surprised when she didn't step up with Sasuke, they really thought she was glued to his side. Sakura had her pink hair down to her shoulders; her hiate was still used like a freaking fashionable headband, though her normal joinin outfit was a lot better then all the pink Naruto told them she used to wear. "Haruno Sakura." Emerald eyes gleamed hatefully at the three Akuma Mercs.

The next up was a very normal looking man, normal joinin attire. But his black hair was a bit different, it was in a ponytail, sticking straight up, with all of its spikes it faintly resembled a pineapple. A lazy, but observant aura surrounded him, "Nara Shikamaru."

The last man was another Hyuuga wearing the standard ANBU uniform, but with an eagle mask on his left shoulder. His shoulder length hair lied loosely on his back. "Hyuuga Neji."

Tsunade turned to the Suna shinobi, "Your turn."

Katashi, Akane, and Tsuki talked to each other quietly as the Suna people introduced themselves.

"I pray to dear Kami that I don't stuck with the lovely couple." Katashi stated.

"Same for me." Akane agreed. The two of them may not be able to stand each other, but whenever it came to enemies they were always on the same page.

"I agree as well, but more importantly, we should get Naruto-samma's message out to the people he requested. I'll handle Tsunade-samma."

Katashi looked over at Tsuki, "Oh sure, you get the easy person. Do any of you have any idea where the other ones are?"

"Gaara told me that Iruka has a job at the academy, which is where he most likely is always at. The one Naruto calls 'Old man Ichiraku' is Ichiraku Teuchi, who owns the Ramen stand we passed on the way here. His daughter, Ichiraku Ayame works there as well." Akane explained.

"So after the meeting, I'll go to this Iruka and Akane can go to Ichiraku." Katashi reasoned.

Noticing that the three of them were next, Tsuki stepped a little bit in front of the other two and lowered her hood. "Yukimura Tsuki." Sasuke and Sakura tensed at the familer name, but didn't say anything in front of Tsunade.

Katashi stepped up and reveled his face as well, "My name's Katashi, I don't have a last name, so deal with it."

Lastly Akane, "Hinura Akane, I suggest you avoid pissing me off."

"I have files on the other shinobi, but none on you. Tell me the areas where you're best at so I can send you on the right type of missions."

"Genjutsu."

"Ninjutsu."

"Ninjutsu and seals."

Tsunade waved her hand dismissively, "That's it, you can go." Within seconds the room was cleared out, except for the purple haired woman standing before her. Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Yes?"

"Naruto-samma would like you to know that he will be coming back soon. Keep it a secret, only you and three other people will know." With that, Tsuki faded from sight. Leaving Tsunade with her thoughts.

In two other buildings the same scene played out again, with a few different details.


	4. Chapter 4

**In this chapter you'll be getting a small look in on what happened when Naruto almost died. I don't like Naruto seeming so helpless and angsty. I know he's been hurt by the villagers all his life, so he wouldn't have a huge reaction if they went even farther in trying to kill him. Then the added Sakura and Sasuke woud hurt him a lot more. But I added something else that I know would affect Naruto, because he is an emotional guy, he just turns that into will power. Really, the last part I added on top of Sasuke and Sakura betraying him is what is going to haunt him more then the others. And it gives me a further reason to make Sasuke and Sakura look like assholes. Btw in the beginning the Akuma Mercs left in Suna (Naruto, Hibiki, Tsubasa, Yugito, and Haruka) are now on their way to Konoha.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto...shouldn't people know this yet?**

"Are we there yet?"

Naruto sighed, "Tsubasa, your bored, aren't you?"

"Yep!"

"And how old are we turning this year?" Hibiki remarked dryly passing Tsubasa onto the next tree.

"I bet he's drunk." Yugito teased and followed after her friend.

"Oi, I don't drink! That party was an exception!"

"You shouldn't be yelling while we are in war. The enemy will find us." Haruka sent back a glance at him.

"Haruka's right, we need to stay quiet, we'll be reaching Konoha within a few hours." Naruto ordered, he sped up, taking his place in lead.

Naruto stared at clearing his team had decided to take a quick brake at. He realized that the clearing is a beautiful place, but no matter how beautiful, it won't stop the beat of his heart from racing as memories trespassed through his mind, memories he had done everything he could to forget in the last four years. Hate filled eyes, victorious smirks, much more than hurting insults, blood stained grass, with the awful stench to accompany it. His desperate calls of 'why', and the worst one of all for him, the horrified face of a young child who had been at the wrong place at the wrong time as a huge crowd of insane, hating fools, who were afraid of being caught were lead by two shinobi in cornering her to a tree. No matter how much he tried, no matter how much he demanded Kyuubi to give him power to help the girl, Naruto would be unable to block the child's anguished and petrified screams that pierced the air, and his heart. The smell of a different blood mixed with the sent of his and invaded his nostrils. At this point Naruto stopped trying to hold them back and tears poured through his eyes, _he was so fucking helpless!_ This action of course, brought back the attention of the attackers to their original prey.

Naruto's legs started to shake as more images flashed before his eyes. His eyes widened and his breath became ragged, he clutched his heart, desperate to make the pain go away. He let out a cry when it didn't . The lifeless, scared, and hollow eyes of the girl he had caught a glimpse of wouldn't leave; it was like being attacked by his own Kekkei Genkai. His chakra spiked uncontrollably and he panicked, he was suffocating from all the old emotions and memories that had been locked away for so long.

"Naruto? Naruto! **NARUTO!**"

Naruto gasped as the images were suddenly ripped away from his vision and were replaced by the highly concerned faces of his teammates, even Haruka, who nearly never showed emotion. Yugito spoke first.

"Naruto, what the hell happened, are you okay? Did the seal I put on you break?"

Trying to appear fine, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and let out a shaky laugh, "I'm fine, really, I was just spacing out." He tried, and failed, to give them his signature smile.

Haruka stepped up and put a hand on his cheek, "You're crying."

Sure enough, Naruto noticed how the corners of his eyes were still a bit blurry, and Haruka's hand made his cheek feel wetter.

"And you're paler than I've ever seen you." Tsubasa added.

Hibiki stayed silent, studying his leader. It was obvious to everyone that what had just happened wasn't "nothing." Not only was Naruto's reaction scary, but it had been bad enough to actually _worry_ them. In all the years the Akuma Mercenaries had been together Naruto had time and time again proven to be the strongest, physically and emotionally. Even when it seemed like he was sad, his eyes always glinted the small determination that surrounded him at all hours. This time though, there was no determination. Only pure, unwavering fear and sadness. With the sweat that covered his forehead, the tears still trickling from his eyes, and the cry they had heard erupt from him, it was like he had been stuck in a nightmare he was unable to escape. Hibiki knew that it couldn't have been a genjutsu, they all would have sensed it, and Naruto never got caught in a genjutsu, he had enough chakra to dispel it immediately. Whatever it was, it was obvious Naruto didn't want them to know about it.

Haruka stepped back again as Yugito and Tsubasa continued to question Naruto about the incident. Her one black eye locked with Hibiki's lavender ones, a silent message passed through them. The two nodded to each other, both closed their eyes and slowly drifted away from the reality around them.

Haruka opened her eyes, everything was about 30 times bigger now. She looked up and saw her body, her body's eyes were closed and continued to stand. But if one looked closely enough, her chest wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. Turning her head she saw the faint ghostly figure of her body. Round and skinny, with a large fluffy tail at the end. Her small ears twitched as the sound of the wind went offbeat for a moment, signaling a disturbance. Looking up into a tree not too far away, she saw the large misty outline of a vampire bat. They nodded at each other again and started to run around the clearing. Hibiki searching by sky and Haruka by ground. Naruto hadn't acted strange before they ended up here. Meaning that something, even the smallest clue, could be found here. Haruka lowered her head farther into the grass, and saw it. Flicking her tail twice to the right, then four to the left, she signaled Hibiki to return to his body.

Haruka closed her beady black eyes and allowed herself to disappear from reality again.

Naruto mentally gave a sigh of relief. He had finally managed to convince Tsubasa and Yugito that he was, for the most part, okay. He knew that they didn't believe him, but had stopped trying to pry it out of him. They were now talking about something completely different. While on the outside he was actively contributing to the topic, inside he was still trying to regain his breath from the incident, he hated feeling so helpless. He felt a powerful source surround the mental box that kept the dark memories that were trying to break out. Naruto smiled gratefully in a tunneled direction that lead to a very familer cage and fox.

He knew that it wasn't Kyuubi's choice to attack Konoha. A few years before his birth and Kyuubi's last attack on Konoha, Kyuubi had been preparing a nice cozy den for his mate and soon to be kits. But a man by the name of Uchiha Madara had come ad demanded Kyuubi's power. Having common sense, Kyuubi had refused, but Madara had used the sharingon to it's full extent, killing his mate and kits. In vengeful rage Kyuubi had unknowingly given Madara power over him. Kyuubi wasn't thinking. He was seeing red and the only thing before him was a city. And every year Kyuubi had remembered his family and the only town he had seen after the murder, and replayed revenge again and again, until finally, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime, sealed him inside Naruto.

Over time, Naruto had replaced the part of Kyuubi's heart where his own kit would have been. Without Kyuubi, Naruto would have died in so many different moments.

Funny how most of those moments included villagers and Konoha headbands than they did missions and enemy shinobi.

Naruto left his mental state and paid attention to the conversation his autopilot had been a part of. Over their heads Naruto noticed Haruka and Hibiki talked quietly together. They looked right at him for a split second then back at each other. His gut twisted nervously, _They know something._ He didn't want _anyone_ to know about what had happened, especially the Akuma Mercs. They were all a family and would hurt anyone who had hurt someone within that. He knew how they and himself had acted when Haruka had shared a very deep secret about her suffering. He didn't even want to think about what they would do if they found out, it would be even worse if they heard about the child, teasing and insulting of people would turn into assignations attempts.

Naruto's eyes drooped, realizing how tired he was. Naruto excused himself from Yugito and Tsubasa and jumped onto a nearby tree. Getting as comfortable as possible Naruto let the darkness of sleep overtake him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Whoo, another chapter! Tsunade finally gets to see Naruto, and the Akuma Mercs are all reunited.**

**Thanks to Kingkakashi, Vayn, Hektols, MastermindZangetsu99 for reviewing, especially to MastermindZangetsu99 for being the first. And thanks to all the people who put my story on their alert and favorite lists. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, wish I did.**

Tsunade studied the man before her. _Akuma no iyoku no hi…no normal Konoha missing nin would have that, it has to be Naruto._ The Godaime stood from her desk and walked up the cloaked figure. Without hesitating Tsunade tugged back his hood. Her eyes widened a bit at the nine red streaks through his blonde hair, how his azure eyes had the reddish purple flecks, and how his pupil was slit. But no matter the differences she saw, the look in the man's eyes and the smile that graced his lips told her everything she needed to know. Her brother had returned.

"Hey Baa-chan, long time no-"A large fist crashed onto the top of his head, sending him to the ground. Naruto slowly picked himself from the carpeted floor; he put his hand against the wall to help keep his balance. He turned toward Tsunade. "What the hell?" Tsunade couldn't have turned against him, right? He was absolutely positive that she had been on his side, was he wrong? Quickly, Naruto looked for any escape route; there was no way that he could bring himself to fight Tsunade. _I shouldn't have told her, I should've waited until I was sure! I can't believe that-_ Two hands interrupted his thoughts as they grabbed the front of his cloak and started to shake him back and forth, it was at this point that Naruto felt relief rush through him. Tsunade was crying.

"Naruto you jackass! How dare you not tell me you were alive! Do you have any idea how much I grieved!? How much of my special, rare sake I had to drink because I ran out of all my others? I nearly stopped believing again because of you! I was sure the cursed necklace had finished you off! Did you think I'd be able to handle you and Jiraiya's deaths so close to each other!?" The Slug Sannin stopped shaking him, but before Naruto could open his mouth to explain he was pulled into a bone crushing hug.

"Baa-chan…..can't….breath!" Tsunade finally let go of him, allowing air to finally fill his lungs. Naruto opened his mouth for the second time to explain, but was cut off _again_ by a snicker from behind him. Both the Hokage and Naruto turned around to face the four other Akuma Mercs who were forgotten during the reunion.

"Wow, who would of thought?' Tsubasa chuckled, "The almighty leader of the terrifying Akuma Mercenaries is defeated by a hug."

A vain appeared on Naruto's head, "Tsubasa….."

Hibiki slapped the back of Tsubasa's head before he said anything else, "Enough." He turned his lavender eyes to Tsunade, "I am Sousuisora Hibiki, this is Roiyaru Tsubasa, Kurosawa Haruka, and this last one is an identity we would like to keep a secret."

Tsunade nodded as she looked upon the people Hibiki had introduced. All of their hoods were down, excluding the one who was kept a secret. Something about these shinobi was a bit off. She noticed too, with the first few that had come a few weeks prier. All of them gave off a strange vibe, but each vibe seemed unique as well. It was sort of like when a high leveled shinobi met Naruto. Something was different. That's when it hit her, it was so obvious now. Of course it was just like Naruto to do this.

"You're all Jinchuurikis, aren't you?"

Each cloaked figure stiffened. Naruto looked directly into Tsunade's eyes, completely serious, "Baa-chan, you are correct, but I expect you to keep that a secret."

The Godaime nodded, understanding. She turned to the one Akuma Merc who still had their hood. "Yugito Nii, Jinchuuriki from Kumo and Kumo's second strongest shinobi?"

"Yeah, that's right," Yugito answered, "But I still have to keep my damned identity a secret 'cause of my old title, which is _bullshit_," The female blonde Jinchuuriki directed the last statement at the other Akuma Mercs, who rolled their eyes. "I shouldn't have to hide for being Kumo's ex-weapon. I think it's pretty obvious that I severed my ties with them when I blew up part of the Raikage tower."

"Yugito, I told you, the council here is not going to care! You're from Kumo, and the fact that you were their weapon and your Jinchuuriki is going to make it worse. Unless we're lucky, they're going to think you've become a crazy mass murder like Gaara once was, and you'll be labeled as too dangerous to be alive." Naruto reasoned.

Yugito growled, but didn't argue anymore.

"I'm guessing Gaara is part of this too, this organization is the reason he keeps disappearing?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto nodded, "You can call me Nenshoukaze, Gaara Akatsuna, and Yugito Kumobuki, or by our titles." he explained. Sensing that Tsunade wanted to speak to him alone, Naruto signaled his teammates that they could leave.

-_In town-_

"Sooo, what do you guys want to do now?" Tsubasa asked, he crossed his arms behind his head and looked around at all the stores and booths that were set up.

"Get to the hotel, there's something I need to ask Gaara." Hibiki answered, he looked over at Haruka, who nodded in understanding.

Yugito caught the look passed between them, "About what? What do you and Haruka know that we don't?"

"We'll explain when we're at the hotel with, hopefully, the others." Was all that Hibiki would say.

-_With Tsunade and Naruto_-

"Basically, the council is pressuring you to send the Akuma Mercs on suicide missions, hoping some of us will die, then when Konoha makes a big deal out of it and tried to make us feel at home, get the leftovers to stay? Shouldn't they know that we live in Suna?"

Tsunade sighed, resting her chin on top of her hands she trained her eyes on Naruto's, "That is their plan, but now that I know for sure that you're part of the Akuma Mercenaries I won't be able to. I'm just warning you that the council will be more than angry when I tell them of my refusal. Danzo will do something. Of course, that washed up war obsessed fool will do anything to get new weapons."

"Tell him to bring it." Naruto smirked, confidence blazed in his eyes, "Half of the Akuma Mercs were treated as weapons, like Yugito or Gaara, and they have enough common sense not to fall into that life style again. And we can go on any mission you or the council gives us. We won't die just because of a few hard tasks, and we aren't weak enough to be all sad and pathetic because of a comrade's death. We'll mourn, remember, and keep their memories with us, but we will never, ever be manipulated because of it!" Tsunade smiled, wider than she ever had in four years. It felt great to hear Naruto talking, ranting, like that again. Just like old times.

The Hokage's smile faded a bit as a question made its way into her mind, "Naruto, if you didn't die on that mission, why didn't you come back? Why did you leave?"

Naruto's smirk faltered and the confidence sizzled out as an image of Sasuke, Sakura, the villagers, and the small girl flashed quickly through his mind. He struggled for a good enough excuse, there was no way he was going to tell Tsunade what really happened, the building didn't deserved to be destroyed. He'd tell her sometime, somewhere in the future, but not now.

"Tsunade-samma!" Naruto hurriedly put back on his hood as Shizune burst into the office. "Uchiha Sasuke and Katashi from the Akuma Mercenaries are fighting in the Uchiha Training grounds!"

"What!? Nar-Nenshoukaze, quickly, follow-" Tsunade stopped mid sentence when she saw the empty space that her younger brother once occupied.

_-Uchiha training grounds-_

On a farther side of Konoha wind billowed trough the Uchiha complex. In the area right before Uchiha met forest two men surrounded by spectators stood. Katashi looked around, _Word travels fast here, this has got to be a little over half of Konoha. Ha-ha, looks like the Akuma Mercs came too. Wait, where's Naruto? Won't he want to see Sasuke get his ass kicked? Shit, others look pissed, I'll be getting a lecture tonight. Oh well, Tsubasa doesn't look angry, sweet. Knew my best friends would be on my side! Kami! Is the Uchiha _still_ talking!? How long is he going to rant about his 'greatness'?_

"Hey, you son of a bitch, are you listening?"

Katashi snapped out of his thoughts and smirked over at Sasuke, "Gomen Uchiha, but I don't usually listen to ego rants, they're annoying, and here's a warning; call my mother a bitch again and I'll be forced to hurt you sooner then I planned."

Sasuke laughed, "I'm just saying the truth, any low life such as you, must have an ugly bitch for a mother."

Katashi's amber eyes glowed dangerously, "Two insults to my mother in that one. Bad choice." The Jinchuuriki's blue skin became lighter and clearer, until it was completely water that splashed to the ground.

_A water clone!_ Sasuke activated his sharingon and got into a fighting stance.

Behind him Katashi rose from the dusty ground, "Too slow."


	6. Chapter 6

**This is my first fight scene that I've ever written so I don't know how good it is. But I probably to have to get better considering my story has a war in it...anyways, here it is, chapter 6.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

Naruto watched the scene below him, the branch he was on was hidden by a thick, tall tree. Besides him stood Gaara, who now wore his Akuma Merc cloak. If the fight got too bad they'd interfere, but why hide the group's skills from Konoha any longer? It would complicate things if the ally doubted them, but on the other hand, what would happen if an Akuma Merc beat the favored Uchiha?

Katashi didn't hesitate after Sasuke had dodged his first attack, and charged him with every punch and kick he could, only to growl in frustration when the Uchiha kept using his sharingan to dodge everything. Dodging a kick to the face, Katashi jumped back onto a nearby boulder and rubbed his cheek where Sasuke had managed to land a hit. _There has got to be a way to get rid of that annoying setback._ He smirked, _Got it._ "Oi, Uchiha! How well can you multitask?"

Sasuke ignored him, instead taking the time from Katashi's sentence to attack. He rapidly went through the hand signs, something very familiar to everyone who knew him, **"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!"** _Perfect, thanks to Akane and Sanbi, this fight is finished. _Katashi allowed the fire ball engulf him, making look as if Sasuke had landed a direct hit. Which he did, but usually direct hits don't evolve the enemy taking the user's attack for their own benefit. Quickly Katashi threw off his cloak, the seal Akane had put on it would prove useful, but he didn't need it. Having the biggest water user of the Bijuu sealed inside of him already made him immune to fire, hence the blue skin, fire proof. Next, he made seven Kage Bushin, one henged to look like a pile of ash, two sunk into the ground, and the other four, pus the real Katashi, transported to nearby trees or boulders to hide.

There was a roar of cheers as the fire died away and everyone got a look at the pile of ash that was Katashi, Sasuke narrowed his eyes, there was no way the fight was over this quickly. Something more was going to happen. Without a word Sasuke walked up to the cloak and pile of ash that was left behind. When he was close enough he took a kunai and stabbed into the middle of the pile, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. _Kage Bushin is Konoha's technique, where did he learn it?_

Without warning Katashi exploded from the ground under him, punching him right under the jaw (a/n: picture the way Naruto punched Neji in the chuunin exams), and sent him flying a few feet back. As soon as Sasuke got back up on his feet, another Katashi exploded from behind a boulder and kicked his legs out from under him, sending him to the ground again. A third Katashi rushed from the trees and kicked the Uchiha in the stomach, but as soon as the leg made contact, Sasuke transformed into a log.

"**Himisairu no jutsu!"** The first Katashi turned rapidly, dodging the skinny, flying fire missiles. He may be immune to fire, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't hurt like hell if one of those things pierced his body, not that he'd be around long enough to feel the pain. None of the bushins could afford to get hit; it would slow down the plan.

All three bushins charged at Sasuke before he could get out anymore jutsus, all three attacked, and all three failed as Sasuke used his sharingan again to read all their moves. It was much easier this time without the cloak in the way. Everyone in the crowd could now see what Katashi wore underneath his Akuma Mercenaries uniform. A seaweed green surf shirt, the long sleeves were cut off, making it ragged and uneven at the shoulders. On his left arm was a bandanna like cloth, on the cloth was a metal plate which held the Kirigakure symbol with a slash through the middle. On is waist was a tan belt that held small packs for several different things, and to finish his outfit off was black shorts that ended a little below his knees and the regular shinobi sandals on his feet.

Two more Katashis burst from the trees and joined the fight, but something changed. All the bushins had a different speed, not too much of a difference from one another, but enough to be noticeable. Sasuke first concentrated on the ones with higher speed, but when he was paying attention on dodging their moves the slower ones would land hits. If he concentrated on the slower ones, the faster ones got in more hits. If he concentrated on all of them, his Sharingan was strained too much to keep track of where they were at all times, they would not stop moving!

"You never answered my question." All the Katashis spoke together, never stopping their attacks, "How well can you multitask. As you can see now, it's a little important to be able to defend against me. Too bad I won't allow you to make a Kage Bushin."

Sasuke noticed when a fifth one joined in and gained its own speed. What he didn't notice was how the fifth one was less afraid of getting hit then the others, that when Sasuke _did_ hit him, he didn't disappear. And what he definitely didn't know was about the last bushin that resided under ground. Waiting for its chance.

Two hands grabbed Sasuke's ankles from the ground, **"Shikkyaku tochi!" **The ground under him gave away; creating a large hole, at the bottom was a smirking Katashi. The raven haired man didn't have time to get out of the way as Katashi tugged on his captured ankles and pulled him in. Katashi waited until the Uchiha was a few feet away from the bottom before he let go, allowing Sasuke to flip and land on his feet. "Yo." Was Katashi's only greeting as he went through a few hand signs, **"Daichiayatsuri."** He raised his hand, and swept it through the air, all the sunlight was blocked out as dirt and rocks covered and made a lid on the holes opening. "There, it should be easier to finish our fight without the crowd." Sensing that his opponent was about to attack, Katashi lowered his arms to aim at Sasuke's legs, then clamped them shut. Immediately earthy hands sprang up and secured the Uchiha's legs. "I don't want to fight right now, I wanna get some questions answered."

"What makes you think I'll answer them?" Sasuke sneered.

"Well, for one thing we're in a hole with dirt all around us and my jutsu from earlier is still in affect, I could bury you alive. And, in a healthy city like this there must be a lot of plumbing, meaning water under ground, I could easily drown you, to be honest I'm better at my water jutsu than I am my earth."

"What do you think is going to happen when everyone finds out that you're looking for information on Konoha?"

"Konoha? I couldn't care less about that. I wanna know about an old teammate of yours, one you believed to be dead until about a month about when you had a meeting with two of my comrades." Sasuke's eyes widened with realization for a split second before he went back to glaring.

"Aren't you friends with him? You should know everything you need. Now I see how you learned Kage Bushin."

"You're right, I am friends with him, I've had training sessions with him, and seen at him at his very best. I know a lot about him. What I don't know is the part of his story he refuses to tell us. I'm positive _you_ do."

"I have no idea what you're talking about! There's nothing to know about that dobe, he's failure, there's all there is to it."

"Yeah, well, what he's told us is that he went on a mission with his two teammates, his two _closest friends, _something went wrong, and the council banished him for it. So tell me Uchiha, what went wrong?"

"Dobe screwed up, our mission failed. Why do you care?"

"Because, I got some interesting information from some of my teammates before I got into this little fight with you. Apparently, there was blood stained grass in a clearing near Konoha that is aged perfectly to match the time you were on your mission."

"Yeah, so, that could be anyone else's."

"The blood matched to Naruto's."

"The dobe got hurt before we reached our destination."

"Huh, a lot of dried blood was found, it couldn't have just been an accident, and stop calling him that."

"What?"

"Dobe. Naruto's a helluva better ninja than you will ever be. He saved my life, and I intend on getting the answer I'm looking for." Katashi growled.

Sasuke merely smirked, "Too bad, I'm done with this useless game." Behind him an explosion tag burned.

Towards the back of the crowd the Akuma Mercenaries observed, waiting like everyone else to see what was going on in the hole. "Why did Katashi have to go and pick a fight with Uchiha-teme? He's only going to make Konoha pissed when he wins." Yugito whined, she still had her hood on to hide her identity, much to her annoyance.

"Probably because Naruto isn't going to." Akane answered

"Did you just say Naruto?" The Jinchuurikis whipped around to see a midnight blue haired Hyuuga looking at them with hopeful eyes. Behind her stood two men, an Inuzuka with a large wolf/dog at his side, and an Aburame, both looked at them expectedly.

_Shit._

-_Hi no Kuni borders-_

"All guards have been killed, squad 14G successfully in Hi no Kuni." A man, about in his late thirties, spoke into a radio that was attached to his ear. He smugly looked over the mangled bodies of the Konoha and Suna shinobi that once were.

The radio crackled a bit before a deep and commanding voice took over, "Good, carry out the plan, Tsuchikage-samma and Otokage-samma will not tolerate failure."

"Understood." The man looked over to his team of seven, a mix of Iwa and Oto. The sun rays reflected painfully off his hiate, making anyone unable to see his Iwagakure symbol. The man glared hard at each of his teammates before saying, "Finish off the plan, distract the shinobi, remember, _make it look natural and don't get caught._ Failure will be rewarded in death. Now go!"

**Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: fire release: grand fire ball technique**

**Himisairsu no justu: fire missile technique**

**Shikkyaku tochi: falling soil**

**Daichiayatsuri: earth manipulation**

**Kage bushin: shadow clone (if you don't know that I feel very sorry for you)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yeah, okay this chapter is out reeeeally early, but it's summer and I can't sleep, at all (hell, it's 4:30 AM right now), so I've been making the new chapters. I'm not giving the jinchuurikis kekkei genkai an official name, they name there own whatever they find fitting.**

**btw I've been keeping up on the manga, so I know that Itachi is a good guy. Just not in this story, even if he is aleady dead (I actually like Itachi _way_ more than Sasuke, good or bad).**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto :'(**

Hinata had always suspected. The day when Sasuke and Sakura had walked through the Konoha gates without Naruto, when they told everyone that he was K.I.A, she was crushed. But during the period of time she had been mourning, a very small part of her kept refusing to believe that he was gone. Naruto didn't die that easily. Even when she knew that the likely hood of ever meeting him again, of him being alive, was one in a million, she started training and training, determined to either adopt his nindo, or keep it around until he came back to claim it again. And from what she had heard (what other Naruto would fight Sasuke?), it seemed to be the latter.

"You guys, you're talking about Uzumaki Naruto, right?

The bright red haired one, Hinata remembered she was called Akane, sighed, "You're not going to believe us if we say 'No', are you?"

"So, Naruto's alive? Why the hell didn't he come back then!?" Kiba exclaimed, next to him, Akamaru barked his agreement.

"Wait a minute, why are you all saying that he was dead? First Tsunade, and now you," Tsubasa looked at each of the Konoha shinobi curiously; "Naruto was blamed for the failure of a mission and was banished. He didn't die."

"Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura seemed surprised when they heard he was alive as well." Tsuki added.

"From what we were told, Naruto never returned from the mission he was sent on with his old team. He was announced K.I.A." Shino spoke quietly.

"What do you mean Sasuke and Sakura were surprised? Did they know?" Hinata asked.

"For about a month now." Akane smirked, these people seemed to care for Naruto, Pinky and the Uchiha were going to have hell to pay.

"Hold it! What is going on?" Yugito raised her arms to stop the conversation taking place. "Naruto tells us that he was just banished, you all think he was dead. Who's lying?"

"If it wasn't for Sasuke-kun the demon boy would still be alive and in our village." All heads turned to face Haruka, all confused, all except Tsuki. "That is what Haruno Sakura said when Tsuki and I told them of the Akuma Mercs' response." If seeing the black, unfeeling eyes of Haruka's wasn't already somewhat creepy enough, seeing a fire of rage burning within them was ten times worse.

Hibiki's eyes widened, "The dried blood that matched…" Would Naruto's teammates really go that far?

Tsubasa caught on, "The way Naruto reacted in that clearing….." Not even his team had been so hateful to actually try to…

"His hesitance to explain in detail what happened to him…." Akane was sure now; there _would_ be hell to pay.

"Haruno Sakura's statement and Uchiha Sasuke's confidence in it….." These people tried to hurt Naruto much more than Tsuki realized.

Hinata gasped, Kiba growled, and Shino stood indifferent as they caught on to what they were thinking. All the pieces were coming together, the puzzle as to the real reason why Naruto left was solved. Yugito was the one who voiced the thoughts that ran through all their minds. Her voice was full of malice, with an added demonic growl. And, even though no one could see it, her eyes flashed into a brighter, glowing green.

"**THOSE BASTARDS TRIED TO KILL HIM!"**

-_With Katashi and Sasuke-_

"Too bad, I'm done with this useless game."

Katashi was opening his mouth to retort, but instead put his hand to his ear. A communicator that each Akuma Merc member always had, crackled inaudible words, "_wrong…team….kill…village….lied."_

"Hibiki, is that you? Put more chakra into your communicator, I don't get great reception down here."

The device continued to crackle a little bit more, Hibiki's voice became clearer. Or clear enough for Katashi to understand, "_We found out what went wrong, Naruto went on a mission with his old team, during the mission they tried to kill him. When they went back to the village everyone was told he died fighting the enemy, Naruto lied to us about just being banished."_

Katashi's eyes changed from their usual amber color to a fierce icy blue as he glowered at Sasuke, "You really are the most backstabbing lowest sum of the Earth."

Sasuke's smirk widened, "Those are going to be your last words?"

"Last wor-?"

A bright white flash filled up the hole, for the smallest time it was completely silent before an earsplitting explosion erupted all around them.

The furious Akuma Mercs and the old Team 8, were pulled out of their conversation when they felt the ground shake and saw the ball of fire that ripped apart more then half the training ground. Debris flew everywhere, making several people in the front of the crowd duck and cover their mouths to avoid swallowing it. Tsubasa looked around, "The Uchiha is about to get his ass kicked."

"What makes you think that the blue skinned freak could beat Sasuke-kun?" Hateful eyes turned to the angry and annoying voice that belonged to Sakura. The rest of the Konoha 11, along with Tsunade and Shizune, walked beside her. They had heard Yugito's scream (who didn't?) and came to investigate. Akane started to charge towards Sakura, but Hibiki held her back, shaking his head.

"Katashi is the one I was paired up with when the Akuma Mercenaries began; he is also my best friend, by now I've spent enough time with him to be able to sense his emotions pretty well, even if he isn't near me. Right now he's pissed. I hope you have people who can heal mental wounds, because even if we're allies, and even if there's a war happening, Katashi is going to stop holding back." The Konoha shinobi looked at Tsubasa, wondering what he meant by "mental wounds". The Akuma Mercs knew exactly what he was talking about.

Katashi had unlocked his Kekkei Genkai, and he was going to use it full force.

Sasuke stood at the edge of the hole, which was now about twenty times bigger, he watched with growing satisfaction, as his fans continued to cheer and celebrate his victory, "You should never underestimate a true ninja."

"You're right, you shouldn't." Sasuke wasn't even fully turned around when a fist broke his jaw and sent him to the ground. Katashi was done. This whole fight had first started because the Uchiha couldn't take a joke, then it changed into finding the missing part of the story, now? Now it was about getting the payback Naruto wouldn't go for and keeping a promise. He remembered when Naruto and Gaara had found him; he'd been the last one. Once he had met all the others Naruto had given him a toothy smile, "_We're a family now, anyone gives one of us trouble, we'll take care of 'em!"_

Like his clone's had, Katashi's eyes started to change from amber to icy blue. Sasuke had stood up by now, his three tomoes in his sharingan merged together to create the final stage, the Mangekyou. Both Kekkei Genkais glared at each other, willing the other to back down, _Why isn't my sharingan working!?_

As if reading his mind, Katashi smirked, "Surprised that I'm not under your command? Here's a small lesson for ya, a Kekkei Genkai that is supposed to infiltrate the mind won't work as well against one with the same ability. It's all about which one is stronger." When Sasuke didn't say anything the Jinchuuriki started to laugh, "That punch I gave you finally stopped your incessant bragging." His laugh stopped short, growing serious once again, "This is for Naruto." Katashi's eyes increased in their intensity, "Say hello to the **Metsuki no Aoi Yajuu no Mizu!"**

Sasuke continued to fight back, but it was obvious that the sharingan was started to recede back, Katashi's icy blue eyes were making a home inside his mind, and he felt absolute dread. What kind of eyes were these? The sharingan was fully gone now, it was only a waiting game of when Sasuke would drop.

Those eyes weren't human, eyes of a monster didn't belong on a human. The hate and blood lust in them forced Sasuke to remember Itachi's eyes the night his clan was slaughtered. If his own eyes were closed the demon's eyes were all he could see, if his eyes were open he could still see them clearly on the back of his head. This was more haunting then Tsukuyomi!

"That's enough, Katashi."

Naruto stood before him, blocking his view of Sasuke. Gaara stood behind him, ready to assist in getting Katashi away.

"What the hell _Nenshoukaze?_ You knew what he did to Naruto! Remember what you said? 'We're a family now, if anyone gives one of us trouble we'll take care of them!' I'm pretty sure _Naruto_ qualifies for that."

"You're forgetting that we're here as Suna shinobi, not as a mercenary group. People will mind if you beat Uchiha-san in a spar, but they can't do anything about it. You were using a technique that could have put him in the hospital for weeks. Considering that he is someone this village depends of to ensure victory in this war, you'll cause problems for Gaara and Suna. Besides, this is Naruto's fight, not yours."

"But Naruto isn't ever going to take it."

"_Yes, _he will, this is not the right time or place to discuss Naruto's issues."

_-With the other Akuma Mercs and Konoha 11-_

"Who are those two men?" Tenten asked.

"That's Nenshoukaze, our leader, the man behind Katashi is Akatsuna, he's a leader too, but more like Nenshoukaze's right hand man." Yugito explained, never stopping her hateful glaring at Sakura. She would have already attacked her, but there wasn't proof that _they_ were the ones to try to kill Naruto. As much as she hated to admit it, if they put Sakura and Sasuke in the hospital now it would cause huge problems, problems the Akuma Mercs didn't want to deal with.

Ino gasped and pulled on her teammate's sleeve, "Shikamaru, that Nenshoukaze, that's the man we saw at the ramen stand when we were in Suna!"

"Ramen stand?" Hinata raised an eyebrow.

Tsunade sweat dropped, _Naruto you try so hard to stay a secret, yet you're being painfully obvious!_

"Akuma no iyoku no hi? Is Nenshoukaze a youthful Konoha missing nin?" Lee asked innocently.

Hibiki pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed. They didn't mind covering for Naruto, but really, they shouldn't have to be the ones to explain the situation to all of his past friends. Naruto needed to step up and take matters into his own hands now.

Haruka looked at the faces of each Konoha shinobi that stood before her. The Hokage knew, should she tell the others? It was strange, for the longest time Haruka had completely closed herself off, become a brick wall of no emotion. But now, there were times when she allowed emotion to come back while she was around the Akuma Mercs, preferably, Tsuki. And earlier today she had been scared witless because of Naruto's actions in the clearing, and at this moment she had the urge to tell all of his old friends that he was alive. If only to make them see the lie the pink haired one and the Uchiha had told them. It felt strange to feel the emotions again.

Tsubasa had to shove the will to laugh that was threatening to show itself. It was so simple! He didn't blame the three from earlier being confused from over hearing their conversation, they hadn't known anything. But these guys? He was at a ramen stand, and his cloak had 'The will of fire' on it. Seriously, who else would think themselves as 'The Demon of the Will of Fire'? Unless these people didn't know about Kyuubi, weren't they told by now?

Naruto walked through the crowd, ignoring their demands to know what happened, and making sure his hood stayed perfectly in place to hide his identity. Behind him was a dazed Sasuke, followed by Gaara and a reluctant Katashi. The three made it to the Hokage in time to see Hibiki pinch the bridge of his nose. "Ba-Tsunade-samma, I recommend you heal his jaw then allow him to rest without interruptions, and give him something to clear his mind." Naruto advised, pointing out the distracted Uchiha.

Katashi stared at Naruto incredulously, was he actually giving truthful advice on how to heal the guy that tried to _kill_ him!?_ What. The. Hell?_

"What did you do to him!?" Sakura screeched, taking her rightful place at Sasuke's side.

"Like I said, _without_ interruptions."

**Metsuki no Aoi Yajuu no Mizu-eyes of the blue monster of the water**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took so long, I was dragged from one family thing to another then got attacked by writers block.**

**While I was thinking of what to write I came up with another idea, it's up to you readers what I do.**

**Option 1: Make a prequel (after I finish this of course) starting from when Naruto was betrayed up to when the Akuma Mercs finished off Akatsuki. Ive already got the first couple chapters figured out if this is chosen.**

**Option 2: Add little hints and converstations throughout this story, saying how they beat Akatsuki, how they met, and what their training was like.**

**Disclaimer: Same as always, No matter how much I want to, I will never own the anime/manga Naruto, it all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. **

The hotel room was completely silent, every pair of eyes boring into a certain Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Everyone was in shock at first, not truly believing what they had just been told. It all started to sink in a few minutes later, causing the tension to intensify and killer intent to start filling the air. Akane spoke first, her body shaking with rage as she did so, **"Those fucking **_**bastards!**_**"**

Naruto looked up from the carpeted floor and into Akane furious golden gaze, "Akane, calm down, I know-"

"No, fuck that! What kind of village kills a _little girl_ to cover up the fact that their trying to kill one of their _own_ shinobi!?"

"Seriously Naruto, I refuse to help a village of cold blooded murders!" Katashi jumped in.

"Ninja in general _are_ cold blooded murders." Hibiki added quietly, his arms crossed very tightly against his chest.

"I don't think killing for a mission is on the same level as those monsters!" Yugito snapped.

A knock at the door stopped any conversation that would have taken place after that. Naruto, Yugito, and Gaara hurried to get their cloaks from where ever they had laid them down and get them back on.

Tsubasa went to answer, making his expression look as if he wasn't ready to tear all Konoha of the Konoha villagers a new one. He opened the door to the hotel room to see twelve different faces; Tsubasa faintly remembered them from the fight earlier that day, all except three, and old man wearing something that people at ramen shops did, a young woman with long brown hair, and an older man, maybe in his late twenties, with a scar across his nose, "Yes?"

"Where's Naruto?"

_-An hour earlier-_

All of the Konoha 11, excluding a certain Uchiha and his loyal fangirl, were currently sitting in Ichiraku, a restaurant they had been coming to often in the last four years.

"You think Sasuke and Forehead tried to kill Naruto!?" Ino cried incredulously, her eyes wide.

"Tried? Does that mean that Naruto is alive?" Tenten asked.

Hinata nodded, "Naruto's alive, I'm sure of it! Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, and I were talking to the Akuma Mercs before all of you showed up, Akane said that Naruto was alive."

"Then another one, some dude with a mohawk, said that Naruto never died, he was blamed for a mission." Kiba finished.

"Naruto never came back; Sasuke and Sakura announced that he was dead as soon as they were through the gates." Choji pointed out, chugging down the last of his ramen.

"And if Naruto wasn't killed on the mission, wouldn't he have come back to Konoha?" Lee asked.

"Exactly!" Both Hinata and Kiba exclaimed.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "So, is Naruto friends with these Akuma Mercenaries?" Hinata nodded.

"I think so."

"Well, if he's friends with them, then he wouldn't lie about his situation unless he really didn't want them to know the truth. If he wasn't killed by the enemy missing nins then he would have come back to Konoha with a huge attention grabbing entrance." The others nodded at Shikamaru's logic, it sounded like Naruto to them.

"I believe that at Naruto's funeral, both Uchiha and Haruno didn't seem that upset." Neji added quietly, causing everyone else to nod in agreement.

Ayame and Teuchi looked nervously at each other, wondering if they should tell them the extra information they had been given. After a while Ayame approached the shinobi, they were good people, they deserved to know. "Um, excuse me? I think Naruto might be in the village."

"_WHAT!?"_

Iruka sat back in his chair and stretched, another spending five hours after school hours to grade papers finally over. His body tensed and senses heightened at the sound of rumbling coming from the halls. His eyes flicked towards the door way just in time to see most of the Konoha 11 and the Ichirakus burst through.

"Iruka-Sensei, have you seen Naruto!?"

Questions were thrown back and forth, information was shared, in the end it left everyone more confused and frustrated. Where was Naruto? Why would Sasuke and Sakura try to kill him? How much did the Akuma Mercenaries know? Just what the hell was going on!?

Iruka lead the way across the rooftops, with Ayame and Teuchi riding on Akamaru's back. They only stopped when the entrance to a rather large hotel came into view. Like a whirlwind they demanded the room numbers for the Akuma Mercs and raced up the stairs. Iruka banged on the door.

The door opened to reveal the man the Konoha 11 had met at the fight earlier that day, though they still hadn't learned his name. He had a large red mohawk with orange tips, he wore small grey wrist bands, the same could be seen right above his ankles, another grey ring hung from a necklace around his neck. The man wore a maroon hoodie with the kanji for _omosa_ in the middle, the outfit finished with black jounin pants that ended a few inches above the bands on his legs.

His brown eyes quickly scanned through them, "Yes?"

"Where's Naruto?" Iruka demanded.

Tsubasa allowed his eyes to widen for a split second before answering with a shrug, "Dunno, he usually stays with us for a few days then leaves on his own again."

"That can't be right! She," Ayame pointed at Akane, who, along with the others, had crept up behind Tsubasa to see what they were here for, "came into our Ramen Stand and told us that Naruto was returning to Konoha!"

"I also said that you weren't aloud to tell anyone! That only you, your dad, Iruka, and the Hokage were aloud to know!"

"Why wouldn't Naruto-kun want us to know about him returning?" Hinata asked, hurt.

"We want to know everything!" Kiba shouted, words of agreement joining him.

Tsubasa tilted his head back, "What's the plan Nenshoukaze?"

Naruto didn't answer the Konoha shinobis' questions, only directing his order to the Akuma Mercs, "Grab your cloaks and follow me." and started to walk towards the stairs.

"Wait! What about Naruto?" Teuchi asked.

Lightning flashed outside a window, Tsuki and Hibiki frowned, but Naruto never stopped walking, he only said, "Your village is on its way to being burned down, I'm sure that your friend can wait."

This day just seemed to want to suck.

The vibrate greens that colored the forests surrounding Konoha were now drowning in orange and red infernos, lightning flashed and thunder roared above, making the evening sky pitch black. If the flames continued at the rate they were, Konoha would be consumed in less than ten minutes. Hundreds of shinobi and villagers were out, doing anything they could to stop the fire.

Setting aside their feelings from earlier the Akuma Mercs did their part to help, they may have hated most of the Konoha population, but there were still some innocents within the city; they would never stoop so low as to allow those people to get hurt from the mistake of others. Yugito and Tsubasa worked back to back, Tsubasa shifted the earth to cover the flames that danced on the ground while Yugito conjured up one of her best fire techniques to collect the ones eating the trees. Akane worked alone, first trying the same as Yugito, but switching to sealing the fires into storage scrolls. Gaara was alone as well, sending tsunamis of sand, making the area around him look like a sandbox. Naruto, Katashi, and Haruka, worked together on top of the Hokage monument to have access to the forest behind Konoha. Katashi and Haruka used large amounts of their chakra to make rain strong enough to withstand the heat for longer than five minutes before turning into steam. Naruto used his wind affinity to travel the water to where it was needed most.

No matter how much effort everyone was putting in, it seemed to have no effect.

Even with their amazing chakra amounts, Katashi, Haruka, and Naruto were becoming tired. "_This is pissing me off_!" Katashi exclaimed, more of his teal chakra surrounded his body, his eyes started to glow icy blue once again.

Hibiki poofed into existence next to Naruto, the blonde only spared him a quick glance before focusing more on his task, "Well?"

"Stop what you're doing, you're only going to waste all of your energy on a fire that can't be put out."

Naruto did as he was told, when he turned to face he crossed his arms and complained, "A fire that can't be put out? You've got to be kidding! Man and I was nearly toppling over trees with all the wind I was using!" Haruka and Katashi joined behind Naruto, looking a little weary and annoyed themselves.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Haruka asked, "This fire will over take us quickly if we don't fight it."

"No it won't, trust me." Hibiki reassured, "I'm just a Kage Bushin, the real Hibiki is with Tsuki in their spirit forms. It's the only way to get through the fires quickly. From above the trees we were able to see that our suspicions were correct; the storm had nothing to do with the fire. One strike of lightning, from any side, would not be able to cause this big of an effect. Not only that, but Tsuki or Raikouiyoku would have been able to sense a thunder storm this strong hours before it arrived."

"So it wasn't nature made." Naruto concluded, Hibiki nodded.

"The enemy then. The fire's a distraction." Katashi stated. An ominous feeling surrounded the four of them.

"Do the others know?" Haruka asked, Hibiki nodded again.

"Tsuki and I both sent out enough Kage Bushins to inform everyone. The only problem is telling everyone else. The fire is obviously to weaken our forces."

"I'll spread the word," Naruto volunteered, "The only problem is how do we through the fire and to the ones causing all this?"

"That's what I still have to figure out. The only way Tsuki and I managed to find all this out was by being in our spirit forms. Even with the cloak the flames will slow us down.

"We could ask Yugito." Haruka mentioned.

* * *

"You? What would you be able to do?" Tsubasa questioned, using the sleeve of his cloak to swipe off the fire that had crawled onto his shoulder. Tsuki stayed quiet, waiting for the female blonde's explanation.

Yugito rolled her eyes, "Hello, I'm the jinchuuriki for the Nibi no Nekomata. The demon itself is a ghost type, you've seen me when I transformed. Did you think the purple fire surrounding me was just special effects to make me look cooler? ( A/N: To anyone that doesn't know what I'm talking about the link to a picture should be on the top of my profile)" Tsubasa stayed silent. "I'll go through the fires transformed and fight whoever's causing this."

* * *

"That explains how Yugito would get through, but what about everyone else?" Gaara asked the Tsuki clone before him, who had gotten the information from the telepathic link of another clone.

* * *

Akane's eyes lit up, causing the Hibiki in front of her to widen his eyes in realization.

* * *

Katashi immediately started to protest. "That's insane! She'll give herself away to everyone! Konoha and Kumo aren't exactly best friends; they'll think she's insane like Gaara used to be!"

Naruto nodded, "I guess I'll just have to trust Baa-chan."

* * *

Yugito smirked at Tsubasa and Tsuki shocked faces, "You all better start gathering up everyone 'cause I'm still gonna do it."

**Raikouiyoku-lightning disire. **


	9. Chapter 9

**My longest chapter yet, yayz. The Akuma Mercenaries and company go on a late night mission (keep in mind that chap 4-9 and probably 10 too is all on the same day, things are moving slowly, or fast whichever way you wanna look a it) and secrets are told. Ended by a rant by Shikamaru, yes Shika is going to rant in my story, not aloud, but in his head, in 3rd person. Did my best to stay to the point. Next chapter will focus more on Tsuki and Haruka's fight. Woo.**

**P.S. I know that they don't use feet or miles (at least I don't think they use miles, Idk) They use like meters or something (no clue)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto cries**

The Hibiki clone disappeared as Naruto made the all to familer hand sign, **"Tajuu, Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"** in less than a minute the Hokage monument was covered in thousands of Naruto clones, pointing towards Konoha, Naruto started his orders, "Katashi, Haruka, hurry and get to the west gate, that's where everyone will meet up. Make sure that no one other than the Akuma Mercs learns Yugito's identity before she transforms, and if people question the plan, just tell them to keep moving. If they ask about Yugito, don't say anything, just keep things moving. Inform the others when you get there, though I have a feeling that they already know what to do." The Sanbi and Rokubi containers nodded then disappeared. Naruto turned to look at his clones, all nodded, and disappeared in all directions, leaving the original alone.

As Naruto got ready to leave, Tsuki landed beside him, "Clone?"

Tsuki shook her head, "Original."

"Is there something else that Hibiki hasn't already told us?"

"Both Hibiki and I had gone into our spirit forms to get threw the fire easier, Hibiki in the air, and me on the ground. It seems that a large group of 350 Oto and Iwa Nin have gotten into Hi no Kuni borders, their purpose, to start the fire. From above, Hibiki was able to see that the fire shaped in a perfect circle in the area ending only about 50 or so miles away from Konoha, but the flames are so thick, everyone believes that all of Hi no Kuni is burning.

I was able to travel to the very edges and spot the ones responsible. All around a distance of 20 miles between each, a group of a handful of the shinobi. At least three used a number of different jutsus to add on to the fire, the rest kept watch."

"Hibiki said that there was no way for the fire to be put out."

"Yes, that is why we are doing what we are. Though they switch the watchers and the ones making the fire every so often." Naruto frowned.

"There is no way for anyone to be able keep this up for so long as to have every Konoha ninja exhausted, then be able to control the fire so well to have it look like it's going to hit Konoha, but not. Even if they were switching off, they would all have run out chakra by now."

Tsuki shrugged, "That is something we have yet to figure out."

Naruto sighed, "Alright, some of my clones have already started to lead some people there, when everyone's ready go ahead and move out. I'll catch up later; I have to talk with Baa-chan about what were doing. Most likely things are going to become hectic with the council once we do this."

"How many people are to show up before we're ready to go?"

"Trust Gaara and Hibiki's thoughts on that, they're the supposed 'Smart Ones'. Just remember, we can't spare too many, some have to go out and fight and others have to stay in the village for defense." Tsuki nodded and disappeared in the same direction Katashi and Haruka had went earlier.

_-With Tsunade and Naruto-_

The Godaime eyed the man before her, his hood was in the way, but Tsunade had no need for facial expressions, Naruto's confidence was something that rolled off him like waves. She raised an eyebrow, "You realize that Yugito is practically throwing her self out in the open for the council. Do you really think she can do this without losing control?"

"I have complete faith in the ability of my teammate. Yugito knew how to control the demon inside of her before any of us. She was the one that gave us the seal that allows us to merge more with our Bijuus and still be in complete control. If she is not able to pull this off then consider all of us officially screwed."

"How many of my shinobi are you taking Naruto?"

"I honestly don't know. That is a decision I'm leaving to the Akuma Mercs at the west gate. But we know to leave a fair amount here."

A knock sounded at the door, Tsunade wasn't given a chance to reply before Koharu and Homura, and Danzo all came walking in. Naruto mentally growled at the biggest fans of his misery came into his sight.

"Tsunade, why are you just sitting here when the shinobi are leaving their posts? Don't tell me you don't even know?" Danzo accused.

"I did know, Nenshoukaze, the leader of the Akuma Mercenaries, and I were already discussing it."

"The shinobi are being led by my clones over to the west gate. My teammates and I have already come up with a plan to end this. You _are_ aware that the fire will not actually hit Konoha? It's only a distraction."

"I see," Homura spoke now, "And what, exactly, are you planning to do?"

"One of the Akuma Mercs will transform into a _certain_ form that will allow them to not only get threw the flames, but clear a path for everyone else. Some will come and fight the ones that started the fire, and some will stay here. I _will_ make sure that no ROOT members are in the group. I don't trust them, and I don't trust you, Danzo."

Danzo stiffened, and Tsunade resisted a smirk, "Why do you not trust me, Missing Nin."

Naruto smirked, this would be fun, "You go against the Hokage's orders, doing what ever the hell you want, you're a washed up old man that still loves bloodshed. You believe only in weapons and not people, in short; you need help. And now that I've said that I only have two words for my last reason." Naruto held up two figures, lowering them after each word, "Uzumaki. Naruto." All three visibly stiffened, the air tuned extremely uncomfortable.

Tsunade looked at all four of them, feeling like she was missing something, "Nenshoukaze?"

"How do you know the de- Uzumaki Naruto?" Koharu demanded.

"He's a friend of mine. We see him every once in a while, I'm guessing that now you understand why the Akuma Mercs denied your request?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Homura assured.

"So, you know absolutely nothing about the mission to Kusa that Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura was given?"

The air became even more uncomfortable, "Nenshoukaze?" Tsunade asked again.

"You deny, talking privately to Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura before the three of them left?"

"Nenshoukaze?"

"You know nothing of the countless villagers that were informed of the mission? For some unknown reason?" Naruto's voice started to rise a little bit.

"Nenshoukaze!?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Homura repeated, his expression mirrored the other two, panicked.

Naruto lowered his head further and stormed out, as he passed the three council members, time seemed to slow as Naruto hissed, "Next time you try to kill someone, make sure you hire people who won't spill out everything. Naruto has many powerful friends now."

_-West Gate-_

"Goddammit! Will you all just SHUT THE HELL UP!" Akane roared, her killer intent spiked, the crowd of shinobi silenced, glancing nervously at the red head. Akane smirked, satisfied, and nodded at Hibiki.

Hibiki nodded back then turned to face the crowd, "Listen up! For those of you that have yet to figure it out, the storm did not start the fire; enemies did, to create a distraction. The fire may burn down some trees and such, but it won't actually hit Konoha. So were going to stop wasting energy and fight the ones controlling the fire."

"How are we going to get through?" A random ninja asked.

"I was getting to that." Hibiki answered, somewhat annoyed. "Kumobuki is going clear the path for us so that we can reach the ones responsible." As Hibiki replayed the information that he and Tsuki had found, Yugito was quickly gathering up all of her chakra and speeding through hand signs, she finished with slamming her hand to the ground. The crowd watched with wide eyes while the Akuma Mercs stared impassively.

Yugito fell slowly onto all fours, growling slightly. Purple flames of chakra shot out all around, spinning wildly, her face started to stretch. The flames stopped spinning and shot at the Jinchuuriki, connecting to her like a second layer of skin, creating the form of a cat. The ground broke under the pressure of two trashing tails (A/N: again, those of you don't get a clear picture of this picture is on profile). Bright eyes snapped open, staring at the Konoha shinobi, who instinctively backed away.

"She's, she's a demon!" one cried, murmurs of outrage and fear were getting louder and louder.

Katashi stomped up to where Hibiki was standing, pushed him away, and faced the shinobi, "For crying out loud! What is wrong with you guys? What kind of pansies are you!? We're helping you out so just shut up and follow directions!"

"How do you expect us to trust Nii Yugito, Kumo's monster? We'll all be killed."

"You're all gonna die if you don't listen 'cause this war will be over before it's started if you don't get over yourself!"

"This village had already gotten rid of one monster; we don't need to deal with another one, especially when it's smart and strong enough to kill us!"

"Yugito has more control than that, though honestly, if she killed you I wouldn't blame her."

"Katashi, what the hell?" Hibiki demanded, "You just made things worse!"

Katashi, shrugged, "I didn't say that she wanted to, or that she would, kill them, I just said that I'd support her if she chose to."

Hibiki groaned, but moved on, directing his attention to the ninjas again, "It's common sense that some of you aren't strong enough to trust a Jinchuuriki, and forcing you to come will just cause us trouble, we'll split you up a simple way. Those willing to come, step forward, those not will stay in the village."

Tsubasa snorted at Hibiki's idea, "I could have come up with that."

"And yet, you didn't." Haruka replied, not even sparing him a glance. Akane snickered.

"Since when do you talk?" Tsubasa threw back.

"How about you prepare yourself instead of fighting a pointless fight like a child?" Gaara cut in, looking right at Tsubasa from under his cloak.

Tsuki changed the subject before Tsubasa could retort, "It seems the expected group of people have decided to join us. (Guess who)."

"There are some others too." Akane pointed out. "Like the Suna people we came with."

"Wait," Gaara stepped up to the group of people coming up, "You, you, you, and you, are not coming."

"Akatsuna?" Hibiki questioned.

"Nenshoukaze would not appreciate ROOT members coming along."

"ROOT? What's ROOT?" Tsubasa asked. Katashi, Akane, and Tsuki leaned in closer to him to answer.

Akane started, "All Gaara's told us is that they are a different part of ANBU that work for some man called Danzo."

"Apparently, he's all pissed off on how things are run here, and does whatever he thinks he should be done, no matter the Hokage's opinion on it."

"Naruto-samma doesn't trust him not only because of that, but he is one of the council members who were against him."

"So he was a part in-?"

"Yeah."/"Yep."/"Yes."

The four Gaara pointed out stepped back, a little more than angry. The rest stood at the gate with the Akuma Mercs. Yugito turned and faced the first of the fire in front of them and charged through, swatting the fire away with her large paw effortlessly. "Hurry up! I can't permanently get rid of the thing!" she called over her shoulder, voice deep with a hint of purring, the others complied, rushing in after the Jinchuuriki.

Gaara slowed down, taking the rear of the group, turning his head when Naruto ran up beside him, "You seem tense."

Naruto snorted, "Looks like I'm not the only one, I sensed serious hostility coming from the people left behind, what did I miss?"

"Nothing, they reacted badly when Yugito transformed, as expected, and some ROOT members were angry that I stopped them from coming along."

"I'll never figure out how or why you're so good at pointing them out."

"It's a simple thing."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"No."

Naruto sighed, "Come on, we're starting to fall behind."

Akane neared her friend at the front, being careful to avoid being hit by the purple chakra that formed her body, "How're you holding up?"

"I'm annoyed as hell, this fire is stronger than I thought it would be, and the nervous glances I keep getting from the Konoha punks are seriously ticking me off."

"Do you know how much longer we'll have to run like this?"

"At the rate we're going, I'd say it would take an hour before we reached where we need to be."

"An hour? It shouldn't take that long to travel a measly 50 miles."

"It does when I can't get through this damn thing. Listen; if you can get everyone to go faster I'll put more power into clearing the way. The closer we get to the enemy the faster the flames will regenerate after I knock them down."

Akane disappeared and reappeared next to Naruto, replaying the conversation she and Yugito had, asking Naruto to do a small jutsu once she was done.

Naruto obliged, he went through a few hand signs and muttered the name of the jutsu. The blonde created a large number of small cyclones, being extremely careful not to agitate the fire around him, Naruto sent each cyclone secretly to the feet of every shinobi present, even Gaara, Akane, and himself.

Gaara made his third eye and sent it to the front next to Yugito, also being careful not to let any of the Konoha ninjas see it. He watched as Yugito opened her mouth, flames that stuck to trees were being sucked it, spinning wildly and forming a large ball. It grew, and grew, and grew, until it was almost too big to fit in her wide jaws. Gaara undid his jutsu, giving Naruto the signal as well.

At Naruto's whispered, "kai" each of the cyclones exploded, releasing large masses of air that shouldn't have been possible to fit in such small portions. Everyone was hurled forward just as Yugito shot the fireball out of her mouth. It rocketed through the flames knocking everything in its sight down and away, clearing a scorched path for them. Yugito sped away, followed by everyone else, who were still being thrown by Naruto's jutsu.

Tsubasa pivoted his body so that he was standing on both legs, bending down and not just flying through the air. Others saw and tried to copy, the Akuma Mercs being the only ones succeeding, having experience from Naruto using this jutsu on them many times.

The air from the cyclones finally started to lower, allowing everyone to land safely on the burning ground. Unfortunately, it meant they were all going back into the same speed they were in before. "Oi! Did you think I did that for fun? Speed it up, or I'll send you all flying even more ungracefully next time!" Naruto ordered, jumping a little bit to dodge the closing path behind him.

_-Enemy territory-_

A young man, about the age of eighteen, covered from head to toe with a black uniform ninjas were only seen wearing in old Kun fu movies, traded spots with a teammate, taking his turn to control the fires.

_How much longer will we have to do this? Shouldn't the Konoha village been exhausted by now?_ The man wondered, feeling his eyes close out of boredom. They snapped right back open when a large shiver went through his body. Looking that the other two who helped control the fire along with him, he saw that they, unlike him, had not felt anything. _If I was the only one who noticed, then what was that?_

He didn't have to think it over for long, two gigantic waterspouts (A/N: tornados that form on water see on profile) shot out the edge of the fire, coming straight at them at terrifying speeds. None had enough time to move as the water crashed down upon them, roaring loudly. All twenty enemy shinobi that had been present were now soaked and sprawled on the ground.

The man from before shot up immediately, coming face to face with a group of about thirty unknown ninjas, all behind a large purple demonic, ghost cat. The ninja all had Konoha and Suna hiates, except a certain eight who covered themselves in black cloaks. Two of the cloaked figures jumped to the front, "Go on and find the others groups, Tsubasa and I can finish these losers on our own! They're obviously not the stronger of the other groups…What are you all just standing there for, get going before they can call and warn the others!"

The ghost cat started to shrink, the purple chakra swirling around it disappearing, leaving a tired, blonde woman in the same cloak as some of the others, who dropped to the ground after the transformation ended. Two more people in said cloaks stepped forward, picking her up and draping her arms over their shoulders. Together, all of them disappeared.

Some of the mans comrades started getting up behind him, a few of the weaker ones stayed on the ground, K.O.ed from the water attack. The cloaked figure on the left smirked, directing his words at the man, "What's with your outfit, don't you own any originality at all? That's from old movies, no one dresses like that. You must be a newbie or somethin'."

"Same goes for cloaks, the cliché mysterious person is overused and unoriginal as well." The man bit back.

"Were not trying to be mysterious, only to hide our identity from those that don't need to know it. You have no idea how useful cloaks can be, they're our uniform for the Akuma Mercenaries as well."

The man froze, not only because of the name of the infamous group, but because the person on the right was now behind him, kunai to the neck. _When did he move?_

"You shouldn't get distracted by a petty argument with your opponent, about clothes. That just shows what an idiot you are for taking the bait." The voice coming from the Akuma Merc behind him was familer some how, the man knew he had heard the voice before.

"I wouldn't be talking." Tsubasa looked out of the corner of his eye calmly, feeling the tip of the kunai rest on the middle of his back, seeing an older man, brown hair turning grey, misty green eyes gleaming wickedly, a scar that ran down from the top left to the bottom right of his face, Oto hiate around his neck.

"I never asked if you would say something." Tsubasa pushed his body back, allowing the kunai to stab him, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The older gentleman wasn't allowed to have a long moment of shock, as Katashi morphed from the ground where Tsubasa had been standing before and slit the older man's throat, _One down, nineteen to go._

_-With the rest of the group-_

It was ten times cooler in the forest all of them were traveling now, seeing as they had finally found their way out of the raging infernos, but it seemed that their goal was still far off. They had already found at least fifteen other groups, each seemed to have stronger shinobi than the last, making Naruto wish that Katashi and Tsubasa hadn't picked the first group to fight, their talents could have been useful for some of the later shinobi. Already all of the Suna shinobi, some Konoha shinobi, the old Team 8, Gai's team, Haruka, and Tsuki, had been left behind to fight. Leaving Naruto, Gaara, Akane, Hibiki, Yugito, Sasuke, Sakura, and the old Team 10 left.

Naruto made his way to Hibiki and Akane, who held an exhausted Yugito between them, "Are you going to be good to fight by the time we reach more enemies?"

"If I take a few more solder pills I will be."

"Hey, Leader-guy." Naruto grunted, showing Ino that he was listening, "While we're running, you can tell us about Naruto."

Both Sasuke and Sakura stiffened; both were noticed by Shikamaru, who kept his mouth shut. "What about Naruto?" Sakura asked, a small amount of nervousness in her voice was also detected by Shikamaru.

Akane snorted, "Why do you want to know? So you can try to kill him again?" The red head's eyes widened at what she had just let slip. The air turned tense, making it exceptionally hard to breathe.

A look of pure disbelief adorned Ino's face as she turned to look at Naruto's old teammates, "So, what Hinata said was true? You guys really tried to kill him?"

"Of course not!" Sakura assured, "Who would kill their own comrade, Naruto was our friend!"

"Oh bullshit!" Naruto cried appearing right in front of Sasuke and Sakura.

"Nenshoukaze, your anger is justified, but we don't have the time." Hibiki's warning landed on deaf ears, Naruto had held in his anger towards the two people before him for four years, it may have been contained for many years more, but hearing Sakura claim that he was their friend had broken the chains holding it all back. As smart as Naruto became over the years, he made the biggest mistake he wanted to avoid.

"When was I ever a friend to you!? Was it when all those years in the academy when I'd ask you on a date and you punched me to the ground? Was it when we were finally a team and you always ignored, hit, and berated me, despite the fact that Kakashi-"Sensei" pointed out that problem when we took the bell test? Was it when I saved your ass from Gaara when he was a psycho-path, but you ended up convincing yourself it was Sasuke? Was it after I failed to bring back Sasuke the first time and you said that we would go together next time, even when I saw your disappointment in me in your eyes? Was after I came back after three years and you, me, and Kakashi-"Sensei" became Team Kakashi? Was it when we were with Sai and Yamato-Taichou after failing to retrieve Sasuke the second time and you wouldn't look me in the eyes the whole way back, I noticed the disappointment in your own eyes. Or was it when finally I did bring Sasuke-teme back and you completely forgot about me? Was it when you avoided me at all costs and reverted back into the twelve-year-old you that was obsessed with Sasuke? Or was it when you agreed to what the council asked of you and attacked me in the middle of the forest on our way back from a mission along side your precious 'Sasuke-kun' and a large amount of the villagers that still hated me after all the work put in to protect them from anything? When Sakura, when were we friends?"

Everyone was silent, the forest itself, was silent, not one forest critter to break the tention.

Naruto stepped back; bring his hand up to lower his hood, showing everyone the tanned skin, with the unique whisker marks that could only belong to a certain blonde. The once full head of sun kissed blonde hair, now with nine red streaks, and the reddish, purple flecks in his all too familer azure eyes. He looked at each Konoha shinobi slowly, "Are you satisfied now?" he asked quietly, turning back to the front, followed by Gaara, who decided to take off his hood as well. The three other Akuma Mercs waited for the two leaders to reach them before taking off again.

Sasuke and Sakura started to slowly follow when Ino pushed them back, her blue eyes as cold as steel, "What do you guys think you're doing?"

"Following to put an end to the enemy." Sasuke answered.

"What makes you think we would just forget about what we just heard and not take action?" Choji asked, his own voice filled with malice.

"So not only did you force us to chase your sorry ass when you defected, almost killing Choji and Neji, but you tried to kill the one man who never gave up on either of you, who always tried his hardest to please you?" Shikamaru's lazy voice held a dangerous tint.

Hibiki came back, putting himself between the Ino-Shika-Cho group and their victims, "I understand your anger, but this isn't the time. Don't waste your energy on pathetic excuses like them. Wait until we get back to Konoha."

Gaara, Akane, and Yugito looked at Naruto nervously, seeing as he was hitting his forehead mumbling, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Naruto, are you going to be okay?" Gaara asked quietly.

"Of course I'm not going to be okay! We haven't been here twenty-four hours and I just revealed myself to not only the people I prayed would never find out, but to the biggest gossip I have ever met (Ino)! Stupid, stupid, stupid…….."

_-With Tsuki and Haruka-_

Tsuki watched, amused, from her hiding spot in one of Hi no Kuni's large trees. They had a fairly large group of about thirty jounin for their opponents, each was currently on their highest guard, not convinced that Tsuki had just "run away" and were waiting for Haruka to move at all from where she was standing.

They got their wish, Haruka pulled out the Katana that was strapped on her shoulder and charged for them, each enemy pulled out kunai, or some other weapon of their choice, preparing themselves to block every swing she had for them. Only to be thoroughly confused when she took a sharp right turn and seemly ran _away_ from them.

None noticed the wires that were tied and crossed along both of her hands, or how some wires were being placed meticulously on the ground. Of course Tsuki would make sure that no one noticed the wires with one of her genjutsus covering them up.

Haruka turned again, running for a small part of the enemy; her one viable black eye visualized the future situations, calculating the assumed movements nonstop. She twitched her finger, letting go another wire, letting it hang several centimeters from the ground.

Something was obviously not right; no one with common sense would just run around their enemy, while their partner just disappeared out of nowhere. Minutia Izumi had always prided herself on being able to unravel her opponents plan before it was set into action. This time would be no different, whatever these Akuma Mercenaries were planning, she would figure out, and she would kill them.

_-Back with Katashi and Tsubasa-_

The two friends worked side by side, one maneuver at a time; their teamwork looked as though it was flawless. Tsubasa moved left and right, back and forth, dodging the kicks, punches, and stabs being thrown at him from the same young man from before. Hard as he tried, Tsubasa was unable to get rid of the feeling in the back of his mind, that he knew this person.

It was safer to keep his hood up, if he did know this person then it would only make things harder if they recognized him and vise versa. Hell, he didn't even want to be part of this stupid war, his hometown was Iwa, and while there were people who's faces he'd love to smash in, there were people who had treated him well, people who would undoubtedly on the other side of the battlefield, people who he would have to kill to help Suna, his new home.

With all his heart he wished that he could have just stayed in Suna, fight whatever small army that came to attack one of Konoha's allies, there was less of a chance of seeing any of his friends.

"Tsubasa, look out!"

_Does it help to hide who we are if we don't have fake names like Naruto, Gaara, or Yugito?_

Heeding Katashi's warning, the Yonbi vessel ran as far away as he could, jumping here and there to avoid being hit by the debris caused by the explosion.

_Tsubasa? I knew it! I do know this person._

"Stop moving you brat and let me cut you up!"

"Oh yes, _that's _going to make me stop and listen to you. You need to work on your persuasion skills just a little bit." _I wonder if Tsubasa is having as much fun as I am._

Jumping to the left Katashi kept running, making sure to just stay in his chaser's sight. The sound of running water wasn't too far away now, just a little more and he'd reach the lake. Behind him was the last Oto nin in the group, the rest either severely injured or dead, the one Tsubasa was fighting he had no idea if it was Iwa or Oto, not that it mattered much, he would end up just like the rest.

An onslaught of poison needles came flying after him, boosting the chakra in his legs, Katashi launched into the air, and turned to face his assaulter, **"Suiton: Suppaidangan!"** The blue man's cheeks puffed up like a frog, upon opening his mouth, three large bullets of greenish, yellowish liquid sped out, hitting the target in face, stomach, and leg.

The man screamed and descended to the ground, withering in pain. His grey and black uniform dissolving in the areas hit.

Katashi landed and continued running, rubbing his jaw absentmindedly, _Kami, that jutsu hurts! I wasn't planning on using it…..But it worked out all right. Heh heh, he's probably really pissed now. He'll try to completely obliterate me when (if) he gets up. Fun._

_-With the main group-_

Things stayed in an awkward silence as everyone pushed on. Hibiki and Naruto in lead, followed by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, next were Sasuke and Sakura, both showing anger in their features. In the back were Akane and Yugito, who was now able stand and move on her own.

Coming into the thickest part of the forest they could find, Naruto sat down in a high branch, away from the others. Akane and Yugito sat down together, talking quietly. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji did the same, as did Sakura and Sasuke, though was no talking with the last two. Everyone was in their own little cliques, something, Naruto noted, was going to cost them when they had to fight along side each other.

Hibiki made himself as comfortable as possible against a tree trunk, then did the same thing he had earlier that day, and only a few hours ago, drifted away from reality, and out of his body.

Reopening his eyes, Hibiki found himself looking at the group from a bird's eye view, once again, in the spirit form of a vampire bat.

Doing his part he flew away, hoping that when he returns everything will be somewhat settled for the moment, that Naruto will return to the person he had known for the last three years, not the imposter who had been too deep in his thoughts to really let loose ever since the orders to go back to his hometown.

Shikamaru was pissed, usually he just doesn't care if someone makes him angry, and it's just too troublesome to retaliate. Only when that Akatsuki member, Hidan, killed off Asuma was he this angry. His reason for being angry? It just not fair.

He had seen small glimpses when he was a kid, seeing the crowd taunt and insult a small blonde boy, who was silently crying, asking "Why?" He had seen him one time at the fall festival, which also celebrated the defeat of Kyuubi, he saw him run through the crowds, running between legs, and bruises could be seen forming on his face and arms. It was only a small glance at the time before he was pulled along by Choji to a food stand. He had failed to notice the crowd going after him that night. He talked to him a little bit when they were in the academy together. Shared a few naps during class, and ran away that time Iruka had been lecturing them. Him, Choji, Kiba, and Naruto, good times. Naruto always seemed to be at the very bottom though, no matter how hard he tried.

He had heard those two women talking about him the day of graduation, "It would be horrible if someone like _him_ became a ninja. After all he's –" He's what? What had Naruto done to deserve all the glares and insults that were thrown his way? At the back of his mind he wanted to find out what it was, but he pushed it away, filling the last part of the sentence with "prankster" and deemed it too troublesome to deal with. After all, Naruto had always been loud and troublesome. When he had seen him waiting like everyone else with a hiate worn proudly on his forehead, Shikamaru would admit, he had been surprised, and the tiniest been curious as to how he got it.

He didn't see Naruto around much after that, once or twice at the chuunin exams, where he was shocked once again (he didn't show it of course) that Naruto had beat Kiba, showing just how hard Naruto worked. Being the very observant person he is, he noticed that yes, Naruto is a loud, obnoxious, troublesome person, but it seems that each time he screams his heart out, someone changes. Sakura was about to quit, then Naruto put his two cents in and it came out as a tie. Kiba said he would never be Hokage, Naruto screamed out that he was wrong, and gave himself the power to beat the dog-boy, creating a "new super awesome jutsu" in the process. Hinata was losing control of her fight before it had even started, Naruto demanded she stand up for herself, and the shy girl they all knew became a true fighter, and while she still lost, she put up one hell of a fight. Naruto promised to beat Neji, and he did, shocking everyone in the stadium, and stopping Neji from his "fate" beliefs.

He stopped Shikamaru from quitting, not from a pep talk, but from pushing him out of an at least two story wall, and because of that he became a chuunin. Still trying to decide if that was good or bad thing. Sasuke chased after the blood thirsty psycho path Gaara, and he got dragged along (troublesome) long enough to be a stall. He didn't see the fight, but from what he had heard, Sasuke had defeated the sand manipulating ninja. Sasuke was rookie of the year so he didn't question it, but then heard Gaara one of the times he was in Konoha, "I did not lose to Sasuke. I would never lose to him; I lost to Uzumaki Naruto, no one else." Why hadn't Naruto gotten the credit then? Sakura was there wasn't she? Wouldn't she have stopped the rumor?

Finally, the one time he had really worked side by side Naruto, Sasuke's defection. At first he was utterly confused as to why Tsunade-samma would want him to bring Naruto along, other than him being Sasuke's teammate. The farther along they got, the more that, not only Shikamaru, everyone who was there saw it, Naruto showed that he wasn't the dobe they had known back in their childhood, by getting them out of a lot of dangerous situations. He was still an idiot though, that he couldn't deny, not a complete idiot, but not the sharpest Kunai in the set. When he had thought that something in the back of his mind had complained, _Have you ever seen parents to teach him?_

It was when they all made it back to Konoha, some beat up, some bordering on death, which Shikamaru finally got to find out the secret to Uzumaki Naruto. He had been on his way to the hospital to visit everyone when he heard them, two villagers talking amongst themselves.

"It the demon boy's fault, he scared away our last Uchiha."

"If he hadn't been around this wouldn't have happened!"

"I bet he even made Uchiha Itachi go insane, having the presence of a demon can do that to people."

"The Sandaime never should have let him live!"

"We almost had our chance, but that Godaime is on his side too."

"We have to do something before that monster bewitches everyone in this village to be his 'friends'"

It was obvious to him who they were talking about. Naruto had been called "Demon boy" more than once. Just out of the hell of it, he chose to listen more, to see if they would spill everything; it would be too troublesome to have to study to figure it all out.

"The Kyuubi took over that child the moment he was sealed. Bewitching the Yondaime to say to treat him like a hero.'"

"Seems like we're only part of the few who still believe that, more and more people are being tricked by him."

Naruto had Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed inside of him.

What of it?

Had those people ever spent two minutes with the orange wearing boy?

He was loud, annoying, troublesome, but he was one of the hardest workers he'd ever seen, something Shikamaru would never be able to pull off, he always seemed to pull a miracle out of his ass anytime they really needed him. He always came through. Gaara would have destroyed everything had Naruto not stop him.

So why?

Why was Naruto still treated the way he was? Sakura still berated him, granted, it wasn't as bad as before. And even if it wasn't as much as before, a lot of people still looked at Naruto as if he was sum of the earth. When he returned after two years, things seemed to look up for Naruto, he and Sakura got along fairly well, their new teammate, Sai was annoying, but they dealt with him. Two more years passed, everyone in the Konoha 12, as people called them now, were getting closer. Things were really looking up.

Then Sasuke returned.

When Naruto dragged him back, bloody, scarred, but still smiling, while the Uchiha laid unconscious on his back, scratches here and there, a broken arm, but okay. Things went downhill. There was a void between Sasuke and the rest of them; even the blindest of men could see that. It was awkward. But both Sakura and Naruto tried, inviting Sasuke to everything the group did, Sakura clinging to his arm "lovingly" and Naruto joking around acting like an idiot to make everyone smile. This is where it gets unfair.

Sakura and Sasuke cast him out, spilling out their old insults, their not teasing, no friendly banter. Their looking to hurt, and it works. But Naruto refuses to give up; he does anything, _anything _to make them happy. When they say they'd be happy without him, everyone can see that the comment succeeds in its mission. But he plasters a gin to his face and tries again and again, never giving up on either of them. That Sakura will see his potential like when they were fifteen, that Sasuke will become the brother he never had, like they had come so close to achieving back when they were thirteen. He doesn't see that Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Lee, and Neji see him like that. That they would gladly welcome him in conversation, even if he is troublesome.

And on the day that Sasuke and Sakura came back without Naruto screaming about how awesome their mission was. Shikamaru couldn't help but wish that it was either of them that hadn't come back instead of Naruto.

So while he sat there in complete silence, looking like he's sleeping, between Ino and Choji, he couldn't help but be angry with how it turned out.

Naruto trained, fought, and believed harder than anyone ever in the village. He fought to befriend Sasuke after no one in the Konoha 12 would look at him. He protected a village that had large amounts of people who would love to see him dead. He changed so many lives for the better, Neji, Hinata, Gaara, Asuma-sensei's nephew, Konohamaru, that kid looking for a Utopia (A/N: 2nd movie), and probably even more people, one person for every mission that kid had met on a mission.

And in the end, he was betrayed the very people he trusts the most.

It's troublesome, and just not fair.

**Tajuu: Kage Bushin no Jutsu - Multi Shaow Clone technique. (duh)**

**Suiton: Suppaidangan - Water style: Acid bullet.**

**(from last chapter) Omosa - weight**


	10. Chapter 10

**Haha, been a while, jeez almost half a year, that's pretty bad. Though I'm kinda disappointed about all of the Jinchuuriki being revealed in the manga. Looks like i started this a little early. Oh well, I like my characters more ;) This chapter is pretty short, but better than nothing i guess. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

Katashi gazed with interest and shock at the burning, decaying corpse at his feet. One second earlier the man the corpse once was, was about to die by _his _hand, only to end up screaming and ending back on the ground. Withering in the same fashion he had before when Katashi had hit him with Suiton: Suppaidangan, this time though the enemy was clutching his stomach until the greenish acid dripped out of his mouth and surrounded his body. Now the blue skinned man knew for fact that his jutsu did not do _that_ to its targets.

"Like what I did with Suppaidangan?"

Katashi allowed a small smile to graze his face, looking up from the remains, the smile widened. "Yeah, I do. Just what the hell did you put this poor bastard through?" He kicked at the corpse, turning it onto its back, wincing slightly as he did so.

"I improved the technique so that when the bullet hit, it made sure that some very small drops went down and ended up in his stomach. Then swelled, and connected to the stomach acid, burning him from within. Then to crawl back up and out, to swallow, drown, and burn his body. Impressive huh?"

Katashi snorted, "You forgot melting. His face already met the back of his skull. Damn. Wait, when did you get a chance to start this?"

"You did not keep an eye on him while he was chasing you. I only used a few drops instead of the whole thing. Poor man didn't see it coming."

The smile widened some more, and a small laugh found its way out, "You were always the more sadistic out of the two of us. It's good to see you again," Amber eyes locked with vibrate green, "Kaito."

"Same, Katashi."

* * *

A rather harsh kick connected with Tsubasa's chest, sending him colliding with Hi no Kuni's many sturdy trees. His cloak forgotten for the time being on the ground some distance away.

"Roiyaru Tsubasa. I never thought I would meet you again, disgusting piece of trash. How dare you ever show your face again?" The boy's face glowed under the moonlight. He had been right in knowing the Akuma Merc he was fighting, unfortunately.

Tsubasa smirked, his mud brown eyes flashed to orange. Slowly, he started to peel off his sweatshirt, taking the wrist and ankle bands off along with it. He lastly tugged off the ring hanging from his neck before standing up. "Wakahisa Nori, just the face I wanted to see. Tell your brother I said 'Hi' when you see him again in hell." Nori only saw Tsubasa narrow his eyes before he completely disappeared, reappearing right before him, arm raised, fist clenched with blue chakra glowing around it, and orange eyes blazing.

* * *

Gaara sat quietly, observing his surroundings. The air buzzed with badly masked tension, so much that Gaara was sure that everyone remotely near would be able to sense it. Naruto stayed deathly silent, looking off into the distance, away from the other people of the group. Gaara knew that Naruto knew better than to distance himself away even more than he already had, most likely he was waiting for Hibiki to return before even trying to communicate with the Konoha nin, or even the three Akuma Mercs that were present. The others were just as quiet. The one called Shikamaru, laid against a tree, eyes closed, the other two, Ino and Chouji, sat next to him, eyes wandering, but again and again, making their way to Naruto's form.

Akane and Yugito sat back-to-back, their heads lowered and eyes closed. While they seemed calm, it was obvious to Gaara that they were just itching to move, to do something, to go somewhere. The last two Konoha nin sat near each other, a large space between them. Both were silent. The pink haired one kept looking in the Uchiha's direction, something akin to fear in her eyes. Sasuke sat extremely still, glaring at Naruto, coal black eyes swirling with rage. Gaara had a good guess as to why.

Naruto was the one who killed Itachi.

Naruto is the leader of the most respected and feared mercenary group, the Akuma Mercenaries.

Naruto had lived when Sasuke had hit him in the heart, or very near the heart, with Chidori.

Naruto did another heroic thing by stopping Sasuke's fight with Katashi.

Naruto became stronger and became the center of attention.

_Again_.

Closing his eyes, Gaara allowed his body to relax, never, for the rest of his life, will Gaara ever underestimate the greatness of being allowed to doze off without Shukaku taking over. Unlike Kyuubi, Shukaku wasn't kindhearted or have some sob story.

Sadly, because things just can't go right today, rest can't come. Not with the ominous feeling that was washing over his body. This feeling could easily be passed off as good senses, an enemy shinobi near by. But Gaara knew better. This was the same gut feeling he had sensed four years prior. It wasn't exactly the container that was sensing that something was wrong, but more of the contained. All Bijuu had a connection, so, in a way, so did the Jinchuuriki. It had been four years since this had happened, back then it was the feeling that Kyuubi was disappearing, dying. This time it was Gobi and Rokubi. Looking around, Gaara saw that Akane, Yugito, and Naruto had noticed as well.

Tsuki and Haruka were disappearing.

* * *

Slowly, carefully, Haruka tipped the glass bottle, she observed as pitch black liquid streamed from the mouth, and fell perfectly on to the wire before her. She watched as it sluggishly traveled down, while keeping its balance, not one drop had fallen. It continued, staying to the path it was supposed to, leaving the silver wire stained black wherever it touched. As it crossed more wires, it separated. Soon, all the wires she had so meticulously placed of the ground before, were now black, were now ready.

Tsuki sat next to her, hands in the form of the ram seal, below all the Iwa and Oto shinobi were fighting each other, all thinking the one they were attacking were the two female Jinchuuriki. It was too easy; it seemed that not many Iwa nin were not trained well in genjutsu, relying on more brute strength, speed, and their doton jutsus. The plan: Tsuki traps them in an illusion while Haruka attacks them with poison. Easy.

The genjutsu was lifted; the enemies stopped mid attack, eyes widened at the couple of dead comrades that lay at their feet. In the midst of the confusion, Haruka pulls at the wires, causing them to all lurch violently. Both women quickly covered their mouths; black clouds from the liquid fills the air, screams from the enemy are quickly stopped short as the clouds suffocate them. They are done for.

Slowly, carefully, Haruka tipped the small glass bottle. She tenses, _Wait, haven't I already done this?_Before the pitch black liquid makes it to the bottle's mouth, a woman appears before Tsuki and Haruka, with a punch Haruka is hurled back, and the small glass bottle in now in the hands of the enemy.

Tsuki breaks the genjutsu early, pulling out a kunai she aims for the woman, shooting out her arm the kunai goes for her neck. Only a second more and the Iwa Nin will be dead.

Slowly, carefully, Haruka tipped the small glass bottle. She tenses, _What the hell-?_A punch sends Haruka hurling back. The woman grabs for the bottle, at the same time kicking the Gobi container in the stomach, sending her a safe distance away.

Both are up immediately, the shinobi that were trapped in the genjutsu have cleared their thoughts and are now charging at them.

The woman is nowhere in sight.

Chakra pumps into their feet, and they are gone in a blur. Haruka with her katana in hand once again, Tsuki speeding through hand signs. The two of them run side by side, when they're a few yards away from the enemy group, Tsuki shoots off to the left; her cloak gives her the image of a shadow in the night.

Haruka charges forward, katana in hand, cutting all she can with precision, growing more and more irritated inside as each body that falls fails to show her the face she's looking for. One hand stays on the hilt of her blade, while the other hides in her cloak, searching for another spool of wire. When her hand grasped around the selected one, Haruka retreated a few feet from her current opponent.

* * *

Yugito and Akane immediately stand from their spot on the ground, "We'll go back, there isn't much need for us the rest of the way besides fighting. And even then there's enough of shinobi here to be able to stand their ground until we return with Tsuki and Haruka, and hopefully Katashi and Tsubasa too." Yugito looked at Gaara and Naruto, daring them to tell the two vessels otherwise.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, why were there so many stubborn people in his group? He looked at them, "Fine, but no fighting unless necessary. All you are to do is get Haruka and Tsuki out of there, we're close enough to the leader of this to be able to spare a few lives. Do NOT under any circumstances try to fight who ever is the biggest threat in that group, they're strong enough to take down Tsuki and Haruka when they were fighting _together_, I know that they can take care of you two if given the slightest opportunity. This goes double for you, Yugito; you're still tired from transforming. I won't allow any Akuma Mercs to die on the first mission of the war, understood?" The blonde's eyes burned into theirs, and the two girls knew, of they screwed this up and died, Naruto would find them in the afterlife even when he was still alive (How? They didn't know, but they knew it would happen) and give them hell for letting their lives end so early.

_Never mess with Naruto when he's serious about keeping his precious people alive_. That was a rule a few of their early enemies had learned the hard way. And a rule they wouldn't break.

Ino looked between the four Akuma Mercs, confused, "What's going on?"

Naruto only gave her a flicker of a glance, before turning back to drill his seriousness into Yugito and Akane, "Two of our friends are in danger of dying. These two are going back to prevent it"

The two women nodded in understanding before turning around and back to their friends' aid.

* * *

Tsubasa closed his eyes, stretching out his senses as far as they could go. Nori had gone into hiding, and refused to come back out. Small amounts of chakra leaked out, crawling on the ground, searching for the enemy's presence. A few minutes passed with no results. Tsubasa felt dread rise within him. Nori was gone, and if that was in any way connected to the warning about Tsuki and Haruka he has received from Yonbi, then the future would hold nothing good. The Akuma Merc grabbed his weights, sweatshirt, and cloak from the ground he had thrown them on, placing everything back into their original positions, Tsubasa prepared to rush to his comrades' aid.

"Tsubasa!"

Katashi gave a sigh of relief when Tsubasa's form came into view without the presence of any other enemies, now they wouldn't have to waste time on any more fights and get back to their friends. Neither Akuma Mercs wasted time with greetings and bolted towards where the warning had come from.

Tsubasa looked over Katashi's shoulder as they were traveling and smiled at their third companion, a man their age, he had dark, leaf green eyes that glowed from under his bangs of storm cloud grey hair. A small opening in the maroon trench coat that he wore showed a hiate with the sign of Ame carved in it tied loosely around his neck. The only place besides his face that wasn't swallowed by the trench coat was his feet, which were covered by black combat boots. "Kaito, s'been a while"

Kaito smiled in acknowledgement, "Just though I'd stop in and hang out with my old teammate and his new friends. I need something interesting to liven up my night."

* * *

Haruka grasped the red wire tightly, and threw it from its protective pocket to the left. Watching as the wire separated from the spool. She raised her left hand, that held her katana, and rasied the weapon, bringing it parallel to the stray wire. With agile movements, Haruka twitched her right hand, and watched as the red wire wrapped itself around the weapon's blade. After about half the wire was hugging the katana, Haruka kicked her leg up, allowing a hidden kunai to come and sever the wire. Putting the spool with left over red wire back into her cloak, the Akuma Merc allowed herself a small smirk.

The enemy closest to Haruka watched in amazement as the red wire glowed for a small moment, then proceeded to slowly transfigure into liquid and melt into the blade. When the weapon looked as though it had been dunked into a bucket of blood, large amounts of the liquid removed itself almost completely from the top and bottom of the katana and shifted until it had a blade like form. From there, the liquid hardened and became a shell. The enemy stepped back anxiously from the final result. Haruka held in her hand a new weapon, as bight red as Akane's hair. On the bottom of the first blade, two more slightly smaller protruded out on each side and curved away. A truly intimidating sight.

Haruka's smirk widened, and soon disappeared along with the rest of her body. Each Oto and Iwa shinobi present stiffened, straining their senses to find the Akuma Merc, but Haruka didn't go through Tsubasa's speed and tortuous weight training for nothing. Before any of them had noticed, Haruka took down three of the enemy, and continued at shocking speeds. Groups at a time they came at her, with three blades fighting in one hand, Haruka brought out a normal spool of wire with the other and tripped and trapped enemies she couldn't reach with the sword.

Haruka's smirked widened, and soon disappeared along with the rest of her body. Each Oto and Iwa shinobi blinked, confused, Haruka stopped moving, stiffening greatly when the woman suddenly was before her. _Now!_Before the woman had time to touch Haruka, Tsuki bolted from her hiding spot in the darkness, already chucking kunai and shuriken. When she decided enough had been thrown, Tsuki raced through hand seals -

_Now!_Before the woman had time to touch Haruka, Tsuki bolted from her hiding spot in the darkness; she threw a few weapons before she was kicked, once again, violently in the stomach. Tsuki smirked. The woman raised an eyebrow, not understanding.

She did when a red blade became visible.

Haruka stayed perfectly still for a few moments before slowly removing her sword from the woman's body. It had been a clean hit, stabbed from the back, and reappeared out of the chest. The woman fell to her knees, before landing on the ground, the same wide, disbelieving eyes open, staring hauntingly at the rest of the shinobi present.

Side by side once again, the two Akuma Mercs advanced on the enemies, jounin that stood no chance against their ANBU type skills.

Minutia Izumi had always prided herself on being able to undo an enemy's plan; at the beginning of the fight she had sworn that she would kill these two Akuma Mercs. And she was about to succeed. The woman smiled darkly at the two women tied up before her, both completely unconscious, they were two members of the most popular and one of the strongest groups, they were Akuma Mercenaries, and yet they had fallen so easily. Tonight there would only be seven Akuma Mercs, or that is what it would have originally been, but now five other chakra signatures were making their way here. One belonging to Iwa's traitor. Izumi shuddered in excitement. The leader would have already rewarded her greatly for killing off two Akuma Mercs, but now, that reward would be oh so much larger if she brought back his weapon. Pushing those thoughts away Izumi brought out two kunai, aiming both at the Akuma Mercs, one for each heart.

**In case you don't remember, suppaidangan is"acid bullet" from the last chapter.**


End file.
